The Daughter of the Regiment

I am so sorry that they made this video. I know that opera asks us to suspend our disbelief, but in this production of The Daughter of the Regiment, one of Dame Joan's great roles, the producers are just asking a bit too much. It is not only because she looks much older than most of the men in the regiment who together make up her "collective father", it is also in her movements which are clearly those of a senior person and not a young girl's. She has been called the Grandmother of the Regiment in this role in her later years. Rather cruel, but although she might have got away with it on stage (I saw her in this role at the Sydney Opera House, and indeed I was very happy to suspend any disbelief!) why submit a great artist to such ridicule with telecast closeups of every ungirlish gesture? In the same year (1986) they also telecast her greatest role ever, Lucia di Lammemoor. But this time the sensitive director for television made sure there were no closeups which would cruelly show her age, her lovely wig and costumes seemed so convincing from a distance. Also in this role she stayed relatively still until the Mad Scene, for which she still at that late stage, clearly commanded the necessary vocal and acting skills to profoundly move us at home watching on the small box.

The supporting cast in "The Daughter.." are all passable, with a possibly a tad too much over-the-top acting from Gregory Yurisich and Heather Begg.

It has often been regretted that Joan Sutherland did not have her earlier performances when she was in her glorious prime, committed to film. While many of us are grateful to have any record at all of some of her great roles eg Norma, Lucia and a handful of others, The Daughter only gives a shadow of an impression of the great comedic singing actress she could be. I adored her in her last, non-singing role in Dad and Dave: On Our Selection - that this peerless symbol of the heights Australian artists have always been able to achieve, should choose to end her "film" career with a comic role so far removed from everything she stood for in the arts, makes one regret that she has not made another non-singing film.

I love the opera and I love Joan Sutherland. This production was fun, but it could have been even better. My main problem was not with the production itself but with the DVD, the presentation doesn't do this production justice and the picture quality is often blurry. At least the sound was decent. I can't fault the music, which is amazing, or the great characters and involving story. The costumes and sets are good enough, and the orchestra and conducting are stylish and precise. Joan Sutherland herself is past prime, with some flat notes and some notes that are omitted or shortened, however her colouratura still dazzles and her comic timing is superb. Of the supporting cast, best of all is Heather Begg, who is very amusing and appropriately stuffy. And Anson Austin sings and acts convincingly, even making it through the fun-to- hear-but-nightmare-to-sing "aria with nine high Cs" with few major glitches. Gregory Yurisich is fun but not crusty enough. All in all, fun but not as good as it could have been. 8/10 Bethany Cox