Erie Mills - Donizetti: DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT, Salut a la France, New York 1985, High E-flat

THE SONGBIRD: Erie Mills (1953 - 2026) was an American coloratura soprano who found wide fame as the Cunegonde of one's dreams in New York City Opera's legendary 1982 revival of Bernstein's "Candide." The production was much admired and something of a cultural event at the time -- it was telecast on PBS and issued as a complete double album. Mills was born in Illinois and made her professional debut in 1978 as Norina at Lake George Opera Festival. She quickly rose up the ranks in regional American opera companies (Houston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Arizona, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.) until her New York City Opera debut in "Candide." She was a recipient of a Richard Tucker Foundation grant in 1984, after which her career expanded internationally to Vienna, Hamburg, Edinburgh, and La Scala. Her 30 performances at The Met (1987-1995) included Blonde, Olympia, Adele, Oscar, and Rosina. THE MUSIC: Donizetti is an Italian composer through and through, yet "La fille du régiment" 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. Despite a weak premiere and some negative reviews, the opera became a world-wide hit and a favorite of star coloratura sopranos (Lind, Sontag, Tetrazzini, Patti, Sembrich, Hempel, Dal Monte, Pons, Sutherland, Sills, Dessay, and Damrau to mention only a few). Not to mention famed high tenors, who have launched careers with Tonio's aria and its eight High Cs (nine if they interpolate one at the end of the aria as most do).