La Fille du Régiment

Donizetti’s comedy gets a thrilling combination of brilliant singing and impish humor to make it fizz like Champagne. Joan Sutherland, the charming tomboy Marie, has fallen for Luciano Pavarotti as Tonio, who shows how happy he is by nailing nine high Cs in a single aria. Marie’s “aunt” fights an uphill battle to turn the girl into a proper young society lady, until Marie is rescued by Tonio and the entire regiment of “fathers” who have raised her. “Delightful” doesn’t begin to describe it.