Le Chalet Suisse

Switzerland’s rural mountainous landscape with its own peculiar range of sounds – the roaring of clear streams, the peaceful chime of cow bells – was a source of inspiration for many a 19th-century composer, including the leading light of the French opéra comique Adolphe Adam, and the great belcanto maestro Gaetano Donizetti.

This unique double-feature entitled «Le Chalet suisse» combines for the first time Adam’s «Le Chalet» and Donizetti’s «Betly», both of which are based on Goethe’s libretto «Jery und Bätely». The story takes us to the hills of Appenzell, where Betly lives in a little chalet. Shoe-horned into a tight space, nerve-jangling intrigue abounds between free spirit Betly, her inconspicuous brother Max and then Daniel, who is completely and utterly crazy about Betly…

The show is produced by the Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn team, with Andrea Bernard («L’Italiana in Algeri», «La Cenerentola», «La fille du régiment») at the helm and Franco Trinca directing. This promises to be a very Swiss evening!