Le chalet
Encyclopedia
Le chalet is an opéra-comique
in one act by Adolphe Adam
to a French
libretto by Eugène Scribe
and Mélésville (A-H J Duveyrier) after the singspiel Jery und Bätely by Goethe. The score re-uses material from Adam's Prix de Rome
cantata Ariane a Naxos (1825).
The text for the singspiel had previously been set to music by Winter, 1790, and Kreutzer
, 1810, and later by Donizetti, 1836 and Rietz
, 1840.
at the Salle de la Bourse on 25 September 1834. The work had a long and successful career at the Opéra-Comique; it reached its 500th performance in 1851, its 1,000th in 1873 and 1,500th in 1922 with Miguel Villabella as Daniel.
After a chorus of young villagers, a young farmer, Daniel, "the handsomest young man of Appenzell" enters and sings of his love for Bettly. The villagers sing of his misguided love, but in his joy he invites all to a wedding supper that evening.
Daniel reads a letter from Bettly which she has written to him, returning his love; Bettly enters and tells of her brother Max who has been absent fighting for fifteen years. It soon becomes clear that Bettly did not write the letter to Daniel (she cannot write) and she mocks him for being taken in by a joke of her friends.
Daniel is furious, having made all the preparations for a marriage including a contract, but Bettly flatly refuses, saying she doesn’t need a husband. In his letter to Bettly, Max urges her to marry – and Daniel confesses that he has asked Max to intervene on his behalf.
Daniel hears troops approaching and asks them into the chalet; Max sings of his happiness of being back in his valley "Vallons de l'Helvétie". Daniel tells Max (whom he doesn't recognise) of his woes and asks to enlist in the army.
Bettly enters and Max and his men demand food and wine. Max conceals his identity from his sister, and leads her to believe that she will be at the mercy of the whole regiment for two weeks. Daniel re-enters with an old sword, ready to become a soldier, and from all his papers gives Bettly his will to keep; in a duo she asks him to stay while the soldiers are at the chalet; he agrees and curls up to sleep in a chair.
Max comes in pretending to be a bit drunk and Bettly cries for help. Daniel wakes and after an argument Max challenges him to a duel. As Daniel insists to her that he is prepared for his army life, Bettly, impressed by Daniel's willingness to fight for her honour, tries to prevent the duel, goes to his bags and finds the marriage certificate which she quickly signs. She whispers to Daniel that this is just a ruse; without her brother's signature it will not legal, but Max has crept up and signed the contract, saying that he has tricked them both to force them to be happy together.
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in one act by Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
to a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
libretto by Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
and Mélésville (A-H J Duveyrier) after the singspiel Jery und Bätely by Goethe. The score re-uses material from Adam's Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
cantata Ariane a Naxos (1825).
The text for the singspiel had previously been set to music by Winter, 1790, and Kreutzer
Conradin Kreutzer
Conradin Kreutzer or Kreuzer was a German composer and conductor. His works include the opera for which he is remembered, Das Nachtlager in Granada, and Der Verschwender, both produced in 1834.Kreutzer owes his fame almost exclusively to Das Nachtlager in Granada , which kept the stage for...
, 1810, and later by Donizetti, 1836 and Rietz
Julius Rietz
August Wilhelm Julius Rietz was a German composer, conductor and cellist. He was a teacher among whose students were Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn and Arthur Sullivan. He also edited many works by Felix Mendelssohn for publication.-Biography:He studied the cello under Schmidt, Bernhard...
, 1840.
Performance history
The opera was premiered by the Paris Opéra-ComiqueOpéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
at the Salle de la Bourse on 25 September 1834. The work had a long and successful career at the Opéra-Comique; it reached its 500th performance in 1851, its 1,000th in 1873 and 1,500th in 1922 with Miguel Villabella as Daniel.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 25 September 1834 (Conductor: -) |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel, a young farmer | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Joseph Antoine Charles Couderc |
| Bettly, Max’s sister | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Félicité Pradher, née More |
| Max, in the Swiss army | bass | Inchindi (Jean-François Hennekindt) |
| Chorus: Soldiers, young men and women of the valley. | ||
| |
||
Synopsis
The scene is the inside of a chalet, open at the rear with a view of the countryside, and in the distance the mountains of Appenzell in Switzerland.After a chorus of young villagers, a young farmer, Daniel, "the handsomest young man of Appenzell" enters and sings of his love for Bettly. The villagers sing of his misguided love, but in his joy he invites all to a wedding supper that evening.
Daniel reads a letter from Bettly which she has written to him, returning his love; Bettly enters and tells of her brother Max who has been absent fighting for fifteen years. It soon becomes clear that Bettly did not write the letter to Daniel (she cannot write) and she mocks him for being taken in by a joke of her friends.
Daniel is furious, having made all the preparations for a marriage including a contract, but Bettly flatly refuses, saying she doesn’t need a husband. In his letter to Bettly, Max urges her to marry – and Daniel confesses that he has asked Max to intervene on his behalf.
Daniel hears troops approaching and asks them into the chalet; Max sings of his happiness of being back in his valley "Vallons de l'Helvétie". Daniel tells Max (whom he doesn't recognise) of his woes and asks to enlist in the army.
Bettly enters and Max and his men demand food and wine. Max conceals his identity from his sister, and leads her to believe that she will be at the mercy of the whole regiment for two weeks. Daniel re-enters with an old sword, ready to become a soldier, and from all his papers gives Bettly his will to keep; in a duo she asks him to stay while the soldiers are at the chalet; he agrees and curls up to sleep in a chair.
Max comes in pretending to be a bit drunk and Bettly cries for help. Daniel wakes and after an argument Max challenges him to a duel. As Daniel insists to her that he is prepared for his army life, Bettly, impressed by Daniel's willingness to fight for her honour, tries to prevent the duel, goes to his bags and finds the marriage certificate which she quickly signs. She whispers to Daniel that this is just a ruse; without her brother's signature it will not legal, but Max has crept up and signed the contract, saying that he has tricked them both to force them to be happy together.
List of numbers
This list of musical numbers is based on the Tallandier piano-vocal score. An earlier piano-vocal score published by Schonenberger omits No. 1 and the spoken dialogue and combines Nos. 4 and 5 as No. 3. A conductor's orchestral score is held at the Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra in Paris (shelf mark F. 2736).- Overture
- No. 1. Introduction et Choeur (sopranos 1 & 2, tenors, basses) "Déjà dans la plaine"
- No. 2. Air (Daniel) "Elle est à moi! C'est ma compagne"
- No. 3. Couplets (Bettly) "Dans ce modeste et simple asile"
- No. 4. Air (Max) "Arrêtons-nous ici!"
- No. 5. Morceau d'ensemble (Max, Bettly, tenors 1 & 2, basses) "Par cet étroit sentier"
- No. 6. Couplets avec choeur (Max, tenors 1 & 2, basses, a soldier) "Dans le service de l'Autriche"
- No. 6 (cont.) Ensemble (Bettly, Max, tenors 1 & 2, basses) "Malgré moi je frissonne"
- No. 7. Duo (Bettly, Daniel) "Prêt à quitter ceux que l'on aime"
- No. 8. Duo (Max, Daniel) "Il faut me céder ta maitresse"
- No. 9. Romance (Daniel, Bettly) "Adieu vous que j'ai tant chérie"
- No. 10. Trio et Finale (Daniel, Max, Bettly, chorus) "Soutiens mon bras"
Recordings
- Pierre Gianotti (Daniel), Julien Giovanetti (Max), Nadine Sautereau (Bettly), Pierre Roi (a soldier), ORTF Lyric Ensemble, Jules Gressier (conductor), broadcast performance from 1954. Released on LP by Unique Opera Records Corporation UORC 314, November-December, 1976; spoken dialog is omitted (View at Google Books). Also: Malibran CD 694 (includes additional excerpts with Armand Narçon, Edmond Tirmont & Étienne Billot) and Hamburg: Line Music, 2 CDs, 2008. .
- Joseph Peyron (Daniel), Stanislas Staskiewicz (Max), Denise Boursin (Bettly), ORTF Lyric Orchestra, Albert Wolff (conductor). Recorded 20 November 1965; 33 minutes 18 seconds; musical excerpts without chorus and dialogue. Also includes music from Adam's Le Farfadet with Janine Capderou, Lina Dachary, Joseph Peyron, Bernard Plantey, Bernard Demigny, and the ORTF Chamber Orchestra conducted by Robert Benedetti. Recorded 4 September 1970; 37 minutes 35 seconds. Musidisc [201942]. Also: Gaieté lyrique CD, 1992, Michel Parouty (liner notes), and as a download from Opera Depot.
Sources
- Adam, Adolphe (n.d. [18..]?). Le chalet. Opéra comique en 1 acte. Paroles de Mrs. E. Scribe et Mélesville, musique de Ad. Adam (piano-vocal score, 139 pages). Paris: Schonenberger. . IMSLP work page file #71148.
- Adam, Adolphe; Tallandier, Jules, editor (1890). Le chalet. Opéra comique en un acte. Musique de Adolphe Adam. Partition complète – piano et chant. (piano-vocal score; XVI, 244 pages). Paris: Tallandier. . IMSLP work page file #34867.
- Forbes, Elizabeth (1992). "Chalet, Le" in Sadie 1992, vol. 1, p. 816.
- Jowers, Sidney Jackson; Cavanagh, John (2000). Theatrical Costume, Masks, Make-up and Wigs: A Bibliography and Iconography. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415247740.
- Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. ISBN 9781561592289.
- Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762-1972. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. ISBN 9782870098981.
- Wolff, Stéphane (1953). Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900-1950). Paris: André Bonne.