Review: Oh, what a lovely war!: La fille du régiment at Winter Opera

Donizetti wrote so many popular operatic tragedies that it's easy to forget that his long list of operas includes a fair number of comedies. His 1840 opéra comique (i.e. an opera with spoken dialog) La fille du régiment is one of the most popular, and the Winter Opera production last weekend (January 24 and 26), despite some obvious flaws, demonstrated why that's the case.

Andrew Potter, Isaac Frischman, Gina Galati

Originally written as a quick replacement for a delayed opera by another composer, La fille was initially greeted with indifference by the Parisian public and hostility by Berlioz (then music critic for the Journal des débats)--mostly because he was annoyed by what he saw as Donizetti's domination of the Parisian opera scene. Audiences quickly came around, however, and over the years the title role has become a favorite of high-flying sopranos from Jenny Lind to Joan Sutherland.

Marie, the titular daughter, is a war orphan adopted as a baby by the rather tender hearted French soldiers of the 21st Regiment. Now a beauty with the voice of an angel and a colorful military vocabulary, she loves and is loved by Tonio, who saved her from toppling off an Alp. Their love is opposed initially by her guardian, Sergeant Sulpice, and the other soldiers (who mistake Tonio for a spy), and then by the snobbish Marquise de Birkenfeld who, in a classic comic opera revelation, turns out to be Marie's long-lost mother. All ends happily, of course, with plenty of rousing ensembles and solo vocal fireworks along the way.

Andew Potter and Gina Galati

Make no mistake, a production of this work depends heavily on the singing and acting skills of the singers in the three principal roles of Marie, Tonio, and Sulpice. Fortunately for Winter Opera, they had a strong trio in those parts.

Tenor Isaac Frishman was a fine Tonio. He handled the demanding air "Pour mon âme,” with its (in)famous nine high Cs, with real polish, and proved equally effective in the more dramatic "Pour me rapprocher de Marie" in the second act. Winter Opera General Director Gina Galati was a convincingly tomboyish Marie. When I saw the show on Sunday afternoon, though, her voice seemed less strong than it has in the past and she seemed to strain for some of the high notes-of which there are quite a few in this demanding coloratura part.

Still, she and Mr. Frishman blended well vocally and had convincing chemistry on stage. And given Ms. Galati's exemplary work in the past (most recently in Union Avenue's Glory Denied last August), I'm inclined to treat this as an outlier.

Gina Galati, Andrew Potter, Joy Hermalyn

Bass Andrew Potter, who has done plenty of first-rate comedy work for Winter Opera in the past-most recently as the wily Dulcamara in their 2018 L'elisir d'amore--once again demonstrated that infallible combination of vocal authority and comic timing that has apparently made him the company's "go to" guy for basso buffo roles. His imposing stature (he's well over 6 feet tall) also had the advantage of making Mr. Frishman and Ms. Galati look, in comparison, like the youngsters they are supposed to be.

Mezzo Joy Hermalyn's broadly played Marquise of Berkenfield might not have been to everyone's liking, but I found her willingness to sacrifice vocal purity for the sake of theatrical effect refreshing and very effective. Baritone Gary Moss, another Winter Opera regular, turned in yet another fine bit of slapstick comedy as the Marquise's fussy butler Hortensius.

Members of the chorus

The chorus was small but mighty as it so often is at Winter Opera. Since no choral director is listed, I assume the credit must go to conductor Edward Benyas and, of course, to the company's stalwart ensemble singers.

Winter Opera's equally small but cohesive orchestra played very well, with especially fine work by Tricia Jostlein and Nancy Schick on horns. Their solo at the beginning of the overture was perfect. Trumpets Jason Harris and Dawn Weber deserve praise as well. Mr. Benyas's tempi felt a bit on the slow side at times, but overall his account of the score felt right.

Scott Loebl's brightly colored set and Felia Davenport's equally vivid costumes helped contribute to the comic atmosphere, giving everything the look of a 1950s Warner Brothers cartoon.

Joy Hermalyn

My biggest issue was with Audrey Chait's direction. For reasons which escape me, she had the cast singing in the original French but speaking in English, which made little sense and tended to induce a kind of linguistic whiplash. The pacing of the spoken interludes also felt sluggish and some of the comic business felt more intrusive than funny. All of which is a bit surprising, considering what a great job she did with the aforementioned L'elisir d'amore.

Winter Opera's season continues March 6 and 8 with Puccini's rarely-seen La fanciulla del west (usually referred to as "The Girl of the Golden West"), which will be getting its St. Louis premiere. Set in the American west circa 1850, it's a work I've always wanted to see staged, so it looks like I'm finally getting my wish. For more information, visit the Winter Opera web site.