Elisandra Melián flies high in her tribute to France

Описание: THE SONGBIRD: Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Elisandra Melián began her musical studies at the conservatory there, then continued in Madrid and Freiburg. She won several awards and began her professional career in 2008 as Sandrine in Haydn's "L'Infedeltá delusa" in Aix-en-Provence. Her Musetta has been heard in Como, Brescia, Cremona, Pavia, and Koblenz; her Sofia ("Il Signor Bruschino") in Panama; her Fanny ("La cambiale di Matrimonio") on a tour of Europe including Aix and Versailles; her Leila in Pforzheim; and her Doña Francisquita in Toulouse. In Gran Canaria, where she sings regularly, she has performed Frasquita, Blonde, Susanna, Gretel, Maria ("West Side Story"), Queen of the Night, Rosina, and Gilda. Concert works include Poulenc's "Stabat Mater," "The Creation," Mozart’s "Requiem," and several of Bach's solo cantatas.

THE MUSIC: Donizetti is an Italian composer through and through, yet "La fille du régiment" (or The Daughter of the Regiment) falls in the national stylistic cracks as it was composed for the Opera-Comique and premiered there in 1840. Donizetti lived in Paris for two years and wrote "Fille" while there -- his first opera written to a French text. It became a world-wide hit and a favorite of star coloratura sopranos. Marie is an orphan who was adopted by a regiment of French soldiers, but is later revealed to have come from a wealthy noble family where she is forced to live. Marie is a long role that a culminates with the aria "Salut a la France" in Act Two, when she is happily reunited with her beloved regiment.