# Daughter of the Regiment--French or Italian



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Donizetti wrote _La fille du régiment_ and later there was an Italian translation, _La figlia del reggimento_. I am not sure if Donizetti revised it to the Italian liberetto or what. All I can find (in brief search) is from OperaNews:


> Translated into Italian, with recitatives replacing the spoken dialogue...


Anyway, the question here is which Daughter do you prefer, French or Italian, and why.

I prefer the French Daughter. Why? Not sure but it was my first one, the DVD with Mariella Devia. After that I bought several CD sets, including a couple in Italian, and a handfull of DVDs.

When I listen to the Italian version, it just does not excite me as much as the French version. I can't explain it. Too bad because I have a nice one in Italian with Anna Moffo.

It was written first in French (and I am not sure if it was rewritten for Italian or simply translated) and it seems that operas generally work best in the language they were written in. Perhaps it is because the music best fits the sound of the words it was specifically written to. The the connection between the word sounds and the music become distorted when the language is simply switched out. A gross example is operas translated and sung in English, which IMO are frequently flops.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I totally agree with you. I think operas work best in the language they were composed to. The Italian version is mainly the French one in a translation by Calisto Bassi, however Donizetti made some changes (a new aria for the tenor which replaces both those in the original version, the Marquise loses her opening aria and the finale is replaced by a new duet for Tonio and Maria).

The new additions in the Italian version are ok, but the losses outweigh the gains and since it is based on what was a classic opera comique it is neither one thing or the other.

N.


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