Customer Reviews

Donizetti - La Fille du Régiment / Sutherland, Pavarotti, Malas, Sinclair, ROH Covent Garden, Bonynge

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love this set. It always put a smile on my face. To begin, the music is marvelous..very catchy tunes. As Marie, Sutherland is a breath of fresh air...what lovely tone quality...what breathtaking coloratura and high notes. The diva simply makes child's play with marie's difficult arias, interpolating many high E's and trills, and fioratura. Sutherland is the supreme vocal virtuoso. Pavorotti is at his absolute best here, never have I heard him in better voice, what a talent he is. Wait till you hear him hit the nine high C's in his big aria! Yes...that's nine high C's in one aria! This set is must have for everyone who loves opera and beautiful singing.

What an amazing recording! What an amazing opera...and above all what a great performance.

La Fille du Regiment is by far the most "naive" and yet the most attractive opera in the repertory. It is an "operetta" before operetta was really created. It contains delicious melodies well mixed with love and, to a lesser extent, patriotism.

Oh! What a Performance...truly amazing. It is a big meal of perfect High C's D's and E's by two of the most loved opera singers ever.

It is said that the Pavarotti-mania came after a performance of this opera at the met...well just listen to this recording and you'll understand why! His voice has never been as shiny, as clean and as beautiful. The frech accent is not perfect...but who cares...Bravo Pavarotti.

Sutherland is more than exceptional. Perfectly and clearly singing every word... her voice is enchanting!

Recommended and Necessary!

Having just completed a performance run of this opera at the University of Michigan, this recording was insturmental in helping to learn and understand the entire opera. Hearing Sutherland and Pavorotti nail their arias is simply an inspiration. What an amazing recording--and an amazing opera.

Both the Sutherland and the Sills Daughter of Regiment are excellent. I, myself much prefer the Sutherland because I love Sutherland's girlish smooth soprano(1966). It is glittering in timbre and her high notes and her coloratura are more dazzling than Sills. That's just a fact. Listen to both and you'll see. Also this "fille" has Pavarotti, who is my favorite tenor.
I find it hard to believe that in 4 years, this opera had not one negative review, now all of a sudden it's getting Sills' fans insulting the great art of Dame Joan Sutherland. That is uncalled for and silly. And as a Sills fan and Sutherland, I don't get the point. Why can't both divas be great?
I feel lucky that we have a choice to go out and buy either the Sutherland or the Sill's personification of Marie.
But for this opera, I feel that Sutherland and Pavarotti have outdone themself and pull off a real triumphant recording that is even better than Sills'. Sutherland's big advantage over Sills is most obvious for the more secure high notes, which this opera is famous for. And Pavarotti gives chills and thrills with his aria containing nine high C.
This is one of my favorite Sutherland and Pavarotti collaborations. Highly recommended.

This is the definitive recording of this underrated masterpiece. It has great music and jaw dropping, knock out singing by it's two famous principles. I'm talking about the King and Queen of Opera, Dame Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti.
Dame Joan's high D, and E are so powerful and full of ring that it alone should make all other sopranos including Sills take up pottery. And boy does she nail them in this "Fille". To supplement those celebrated stratospheric reaches into the sky, Dame Joan tosses in trill after trill, staccati after staccati, and runs after runs. Making it look all too easy. No wonder they call her the "Voice of the Century". My gosh, can this woman sing. And as Marie, it sounds like she's also having a lot of fun. Comedy is Dame Joan's forte, in my opinion. I know I'm having a blast every time I hear this.
Pavarotti equals Dame Joan's dynamic performance as Tonio. This is a very young Luciano. And freshly discovered by Dame Joan. He takes the monstrous aria containing 9 high Cs with such ease and control that one wonders if he's human. Most tenors are terrify of one high C. Yet he takes 9 in one aria...unbelievable. I think Luciano never sang this well again. Certainly his high notes will never be so magnificent.
This is the definitive "Fille". There are others, but they don't compare to this spectacular performance. If you are a true opera lover and a connoisseur of great singing, you have to have this recording.
Essential and necessary.

Sutherland and Pavorotti at their prime. Both singing with extreme purity of tone and technique. Sutherland tossing out high "E's" as if they were nothing, and Pavorotti the same except with high "C's". Sutherland as a coloratura is without peer, of course, and I don't agree with her critics who criticize her diction. In the extremely high tessitura that Sutherland sings in, it is almost impossible to have good diction. But we all agree that this is pure beautiful singing here!

A "Daughter of Regiment" that I can't be without. I love this CD!

To those bias Callas or Sills fans who never even heard Dame Sutherland in this comic opera and doubt her great reviews as Marie from both critics and fans alike,. I am going to include this quote from one of the most famous critic of our time, Harold Schonberg of the New York Times. In this excerpt from his review of her Marie at the Metropolitan Opera House in "The Daughter of the Regiment", Schonberg phrases La Stupenda as follows...

"...She was genuinely funny, and seemed to be having a good time...she moved with more grace than she had done in any role at the Metropolitan...and she had a few deadpan routines that brought down the house...And she sang beautifully. Her voice was under fine control. As always, she threw out many notes in alt., but those Ds and E flats, impressive as they may be, are not the real glory of the Sutherland voice. The rich sound, coupled to extraordinary flexibility, is the real glory. Miss Sutherland spun out arch after arch of pure tone. What is more. It was expressive tone. There has not been more beautiful or expressive singing in any opera house than in Miss Sutherland's second-act romance, `Il faut partir'.
This was bel canto at its best - secure in technique, melting in tone delicately shaded, long- breath..."

It short, Dame Joan sang an incredible Marie, both vocally and artistically. So all you non-fans of La Stupenda who probably never even listen to this "Daughter", you have no basis to criticize her while one of the most renowned critics of the New York Times, Harold Schonberg, consider it a great success. And I'm not even including what they said about Mr. Pavarotti, and his aria with nine high Cs that brought down the house. After the performance, Sutherland and Pavarotti were given ovation after ovation, a complete triumph!

So now you've heard the truth. Sutherland and Pavarotti are stupendous as Marie and Tonio in Donizetti's comical masterpiece. They repeat their success and was even more impressive in this studio recording with fantastic sound. Ignore the jealous bashers who attack Sutherland without even hearing the recording. Listen to those who have actually heard Sutherland and Pavarotti sang this on stage and also have this recording. It is sensational, an essential recording.

I'll go so far as to say this is one of the best recording of a bel canto comic opera ever recorded. In fact, I can't think of any other bel canto comic opera recorded by anyone else who can hold a candle to this gem. Perhaps the Giulini Don Giovanni, but that's not a real comic opera, and it's not really bel canto.

The highest recommendation! I give it a ten.

It's just like grabbing the big family blanket, snacks, drinks, flashlights, hopping in the car and going to watch the fireworks display on Independence Day. I'm serious. Prepare yourself because this opera will just blow you away with the amount of vocal pyrotechnics that are jam-packed in. It's like the best 4th of July, EVER!

One would almost think Donizetti wrote this opera with Dame Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti in mind. Both are in extremely good voice here in this late 60's recording, and all the high notes packed in here tell you just that. Listen to what seems like hundreds of high D's and E's from Sutherland, and the gorgeous high C's from Pavarotti. These two pull out all the stops, especially Sutherland, and one sees just why they became popular... perfect technique, incomparable and beautiful voices, everything.

The comedy here is done very well by all of the cast, and one can actually find themself laughing in "Le jour naissait dans le bocage" in Act 2, when Sutherland in the part of Marie is being vocally coached by her mother, and nudged on by her father. Marie gets carried away and flustered, and it truly is hilarious to hear the communication between all three. All of the cast is vocally quite good, although Monica Sinclair is at times really quite squawky and muffled in her alto role. However, she uses this to her advantage when she flashes about her comedic prowess.

One drawback to this recording... the French accents. Sutherland's is pretty good, and her diction is not really that bad at all. Monica Sinclair I think tries too hard. It sounds more like she's making fun of the accent than trying to speak French well. And I caught her a couple times pronouncing things wrong (if only Amazon allowed people to hear her pronounce "perdue" from the track "La romance perdue"... yikes!). The chorus... ugh. If only Bonynge could have gotten a true French-speaking chorus. I really had to cringe sometimes when I heard them pronouncing some simple words completely wrong. It was somewhat distressing. And Pavarotti, bless him, tries his best, though his own accent is evident through his french. HOWEVER... I'm being somewhat picky, and everything else that this recording provides completely wins me over. If I could give this CD set a thousand stars instead of 5 I would.

Whether you like Bonynge's usual work with the baton or not, I think one has to admit he conducts excellently here. He conducts this perky little opera with so much spunk, yet allows time for the emotions of it all to sink in. And one has to praise Donizetti. A thousand thanks that he composed this opera. It's so full of fun, comedy, glorious singing, and is really quite uplifting with all of its marchlike tunes.

There aren't enough performers of this caliber that can sing this sort of repertoire these days. This is truly a benchmark recording, and I think the finest that Pavarotti and Sutherland ever recorded together. Perhaps it is one of the most historic opera recordings... Although it is evident that it is not praised enough.

When looking at the competition, I'm sorry, but NOTHING will compare. Not the Sills version (her coloratura does not even come close to this), and not Pavarotti's other version (it doesn't feature Sutherland as Marie, and it's sung in Italian!).

To sum it up, grab that big blanket, the goodies, and get settled to hear the vocal fireworks of two greats in recorded opera history! This is a priceless set, and belongs in the collection of ANY opera lover (it could quite possibly convert those who aren't currently fans of Sutherland's work!). I promise...... THIS IS SINGING AT ITS ABSOLUTE FINEST WITH TWO OF THE FINEST SINGERS EVER... IN THEIR PRIME!!!

Yes, that's it nine high C's in one aria. And Pavorotti did it with ease. And that soprano from down under does one better by hitting high D's and high E's. This is a real roller coaster ride of an opera with nice tunes and tour de force singing from Sutherland and Pavorotti.

Brava, Dame Joan. Bravo, Pavarotti. You make Donizetti proud. This really has to be one of Dame Joan and Pavarotti's most accomplished singing. This is 1966 vintage Sutherland/Pav. It doesn't get any better than that. The high notes from both are incredible. We're talking Cs, Ds, Es, and who knows what else. I'm just thrill that I have it. I also bought one for my son. He's a rock and roll fan, but I'll get him to appreciate opera one of these days. And with such a fun opera with such lovely music and stupendous singing. Who can resist this?