'Fille' scores at the Met

French soprano Natalie Dessay sings the role of Marie, the tomboy title character, in a scene from Donizetti's "La Fille du Regiment" ("The Daughter of the Regiment"). (AP Photo/Metropolitan Opera, Ken Howard)

By Matt Windman

1:11 PM EDT, May 8, 2008

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At the opening night of "La Fille du Regiment" at the Metropolitan Opera, the tenor Juan Diego Florez did something so rare that it has not been done in any Met production since 1994.

After hitting all nine high C notes of the notoriously difficult aria "Ah! Mes Amis" and receiving rapturous applause, Florez sang it all over again. And he hit the high notes again. And he received extended an ovation all over again. Florez is now deciding on the spot whether to do the encore at each individual performance.

The Met's 2007-08 season will probably go down in history as the one that both opened and ended with French soprano Natalie Dessay starring in lavish new productions of Donizetti operas.

In September, Dessay took the city by storm as the tragic protagonist of "Lucia di Lammermoor," terrifying one and all in the character's legendary mad scene. Now, she is playing the young heroine of "La Fille du Regiment," Donizetti's lesser-known army life comedy.

Laurent Pelly's extremely funny revival updates the setting, which is meant to take place in France during the Napoleonic Wars, to World War I. Its simple plot is one of mistaken identity and hopeless destiny. The heroine, an army wench, can't marry her beau until he becomes a soldier. But once he does, she suddenly learns that she was born to the upper class and must desert the army. Of course, all is happily resolved in Act Two.

Making her Met debut in a non-singing cameo is Broadway's Marian Seldes. Zoe Caldwell was originally supposed to do the role, but cancelled at the last minute due to illness.

"La Fille" captures the same whimsical comedy spirit made Barrett Sher's production of "Il Barberi di Siviglia" into a must-see hit last year. So ends another excellent season for the Met. Prospects are looking very good for its new general manager Peter Gelb.

Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, 212-362-6000, $15-295. Schedule varies. Thru May 16.