La Fille du Régiment

This is not only the incomparable Lily Pons’s first performance in Donizetti’s comic opera at the Met; it is her only broadcast as Marie. Equal parts dazzling singer and romping tomboy, she is totally charming. No wonder Time magazine put her on its cover. Salvatore Baccaloni is Sergeant Sulpice and Raoul Jobin is the man who steals Pons’s heart. In this famous World War II-era broadcast Pons interpolates “La Marseillaise” at the end—bringing a cheering Met audience to its feet.