REVIEW: 'The Daughter of the Regiment' is a funny forbidden love story

The final broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday will be a performance of Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera "The Daughter of the Regiment." The performance will begin at 12:30 p.m. and there will be an encore broadcast at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Donizetti wrote this opera for the Opera Comique in Paris; it became one of the most popular operas to be performed in that city, and for many years it was performed on Bastille Day.

The opera tells the story of Marie, a young woman who is the adoptive daughter of a regiment of French soldiers. She is in love with a young man named Tonio. They want to get married but the woman who is Marie's mother (Marie doesn't know that she is her mother) is against the marriage.

Marie's mother arranges for her to marry a duke, but when Tonio and the regiment appear, things begin to get interesting. Marie discovers her mother's true identity, and she and Tonio are finally able to be married.

The lead singers for this performance have gotten rave reviews for their portrayals of the two main characters. French soprano Natalie Dessay has a fabulous voice and is quite a comedienne; she plays Marie as a modern woman with a mind of her own. Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez is handsome and charismatic, and when he sings the famous aria with the nine high C's, he brings down the house. I have seen both of these singers on stage and they are something to behold. You won't want to miss this sparkling comedy with two such wonderful singers. It's a great finale to a wonderful season of opera from the Met in New York.

Barb Herbert of Cape Girardeau is an opera lover and host of Southeast Public Radio's "Sunday Night at the Opera."