Donizetti's Comic Romp LA FILLE DU REGIMENT Returns to the Met February 7

The Metropolitan Opera presents Donizetti's comedy La Fille du Régiment, with performances February 7 to March 2, 2019. Pretty Yende stars as Marie, the young canteen girl of the local regiment. Javier Camarena is the boy with whom she falls in love, Tonio, whose show-stopping aria "Ah! mes amis" is famous for its remarkable nine high Cs. Stephanie Blythe is the outlandish Marquise of Berkenfield, and Alessandro Corbelli and Maurizio Muraro share the role of the comical sergeant Sulpice.

In a special appearance that marks her Metropolitan Opera debut, Oscar- and Tony-nominated actress Kathleen Turner is the Duchess of Krakenthorp. Turner joins a list of distinguished actresses who have performed this iconic, non-singing role at the Met, including Jane White (1983), Bea Arthur (1994), and Marian Seldes (2008). More recently, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg took on the role at Washington National Opera to great acclaim.

Laurent Pelly's stylish production is conducted by Enrique Mazzola.

The performance of La Fille du Régiment on Saturday, March 2 will be transmitted live to more than 2,200 movie theaters in more than 70 countries as part of the Met's Live in HD series. The transmission will be hosted by soprano Nadine Sierra, who will be seen later this season at the Met as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto.

The February 7, February 18, and March 2 performances of La Fille du Régiment will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 75, and the February 7 performance will also be streamed live on the Met's web site, metopera.org.

Artist Biographies

South African soprano Pretty Yende adds a new role to her Met repertory as Marie. She made a surprise company debut in 2013 when she stepped in at short notice to sing her first-ever performance of Countess Adèle in Rossini's Le Comte Ory, opposite Juan Diego Flórez and Nathan Gunn. Since then, she has sung Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Elvira in Bellini's I Puritani, Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Adina in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, and the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. Earlier this season at the Met she was seen as Leïla in Bizet's Les Pêcheurs des Perles.

American mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe makes her Met role debut as the Marquise of Berkenfield. She has given more than 225 Met performances in a varied repertory that includes 27 different roles, which in recent seasons have included Madame de la Haltière in Massenet's Cendrillon, Mistress Quickly in Verdi's Falstaff, Fricka in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, Amneris in Verdi's Aida, and Eduige in Handel's Rodelinda. She is a graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and a winner of the Met's National Council Auditions. Earlier this season, she reprised her portrayals of La Principessa and Zita in Puccini's Il Trittico.

Kathleen Turner is a two-time Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress. She has garnered critical acclaim for performances in movies including Body Heat, Romancing the Stone, Prizzi's Honor, Peggy Sue Got Married, The War of the Roses, The Man with Two Brains, The Jewel of the Nile, The Accidental Tourist, V.I. Warshawski, Serial Mom, Naked in New York, Moonlight and Valentino, The Real Blonde, The Virgin Suicides, and Dumb and Dumber To. Stage appearances on Broadway have included Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (for which she received a Tony nomination for Best Actress), Indiscretions, The Graduate, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (for which she received a second Tony nomination). Other stage credits include Mother Courage and Her Children, Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, The Year of Magical Thinking, the West End production of Bakersfield Mist, and her own cabaret show, Finding My Voice.

Mexican tenor Javier Camarena sings Tonio, which he has previously sung at Vienna State Opera and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. He made his Met debut in 2011 as Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, followed by performances as Elvino in Bellini's La Sonnambula, Arturo in Bellini's I Puritani, and Idreno in Rossini's Semiramide. He sang Don Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Met in 2014, during which the overwhelming audience response led him to give a mid-performance encore of the aria "Si, ritrovarla io giuro." He gave another mid-performance encore, of the aria "Povero Ernesto," in 2016 when he sang Ernesto in Donizetti's Don Pasquale. Earlier this season at the Met, he sang Nadir in Bizet's Les Pêcheurs des Perles alongside Pretty Yende.

Italian baritone Alessandro Corbelli reprises Sulpice, which he previously sang at the Met in 2008. He made his Met debut as Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola followed by performances as Taddeo in Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri, the title role of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Dulcamara in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola. This season he sings Don Magnifico at Paris Opera, Dr. Bartolo in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Glyndebourne Festival, and Fra Melitone in Verdi's La Forza del Destino at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Italian bass Maurizio Muraro reprises Sulpice. He has sung more than 100 performances with the company in roles including Dr. Bartolo in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte, and Bailiff in Massenet's Werther. Other performances this season at the Met include Talpa in Il Tabarro and Simone in Gianni Schicchi in Puccini's Il Trittico and the Prince of Bouillon in the new production of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, which is part of The Met: Live in HD series.

Spanish conductor Enrique Mazzola made his company debut conducting L'Elisir d'Amore in 2016. He has been the artistic and music director of Orchestre National d'Ile de France (ONDIF) since 2012 and this season marks his first as principal guest conductor at Deutsche Oper Berlin. He has also conducted at Opernhaus Zürich, the Bolshoi Theatre, La Scala, Opera du Rhin, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, as well as the Glyndebourne Festival, Orange Festival, and Munich Opera Festival. This season, he can be seen conducting Donizetti's Don Pasquale at Vienna State Opera, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Rossini's Il Turco in Italia at Opernhaus Zürich.

For further details on La Fille du Régiment, including casting by date, please click here.

Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

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