Show sponsored by
The White Horse Inn is the last Berlin operetta of the interwar period. It is a hybrd work that mixes Tyrolean folklore, Viennese operetta, Berlin cabaret tunes and dance hall numbers. The arrival of eccentric clients from the south of France breaks the serenity of a charming establishment in the Austrian Alps, and the once civilised party becomes a free-for-all.
Translated into many languages, its French adaptation was performed more than 1,700 times at the Théâtre du Châtelet with Bourvil in the role of Léopold.
Interlaced tunes by Robert Stolz and Robert Gilbert
Musical adaptation by Paul Bonneau
French adaptation by Lucien Besnard – Lyrics by René Dorin
First performance on September 29, 1968
Published by Raoul Breton
supports the choir of the Opéra de Lausanne
Director of the Opera and the Regional Symphony Orchestra in Tours from 1999 to 2016, Jean-Yves Ossonce has been the guest conductor of numerous opera houses and orchestras in Europe, across the Atlantic, in South Korea and in China. He has recorded works by Magnard, Massenet and Ropartz, among others. His activity was distinguished in 2008 and 2014 by the Syndicat de la critique musicale et dramatique (“best lyrical performance in the region”). In 2016, he received the Grand Prix de la Presse musicale internationale for his entire career. He is a knight of the Legion of Honor.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Così fan tutte (2006), Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (2007), Madama Butterfly (2009), L’Aiglon (2013), Faust (2016) and Les contes d’Hoffmann (2019).
Originally from the Marseille region, Gilles Rico studied music and philosophy before taking a PhD in medieval philosophy at Oxford University. In parallel to his academic career, he turned to opera directing, working first as an assistant for various European and North American opera houses and festivals. He has worked with directors such as Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser, Joël Pommerat, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Jérôme Deschamps, Andreas Homoki, David McVicar, Damiano Michieletto, Robert Carsen, James Gray and Katie Mitchell. In 2016, he directed his first opera production at Angers-Nantes Opéra, the world premiere of Maria Republica by François Paris, which received the Critics’ Choice Award the same year. He also directed Un dîner avec Jacques, a show based on Offenbach produced by the Opéra-Comique in Paris and then taken on tour in France. He created the participatory opera Tistou les pouces verts by Henri Sauguet at the Rouen Opera and then staged Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Philharmonie de Paris. More recently, he directed the participatory opera Les Petites Noces after Mozart at the Opéra de Rouen, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, in Avignon and Toulon, and the operette L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc by Benatzsky in Lausanne and Marseille. As a librettist, Gilles Rico wrote the libretto of Violetta Cruz’s La Princesse légère for the Opéra-Comique and the Opéra de Lille, and the libretto of Fabian Panisello’s chamber opera Les Rois mages, which he also directed in Madrid, Nice and Tel Aviv. His directing projects include Offenbach’s L’Île de Tulipatan at the Opéra de Lausanne (Route Lyrique), Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo at the Opéra royal de Versailles, Gounod’s Le Tribut de Zamora at the Opéra de Saint-Etienne and the world premiere of Zad Moultaka’s Hémon at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Cendrillon by Pauline Viardot (2018), Le nozze di Figaro (2021), L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021) and L’Île de Tulipatan (Route Lyrique 2023).
After studying political science and piano, Fabienne Conrad made her debut in the title role of La Traviata. Since then, she has sung on many European stages roles such as the Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro), Juliette (Romeo and Juliet), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Mimì (La bohème), Micaëla (Carmen), Princess Marie de Gonzague (Cinq-Mars), as well as the title roles of Lucia di Lammermoor, Manon, Mirelle and Madama Butterfly. She has also collaborated with Jesús López Cobos, Cyril Diederich, Myung-Wung Chun, Robert Carsen and Vincent Boussard. Fabienne Conrad has been invited by Alain Duault for a series of recitals ” Maria Callas, une passion, un destin “, in partnership with Radio Classique, and has also sung during the show ” Musiques en fête ” live on France 3 and France Musique. In the pipeline: the roles of Liù (Turandot), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) or the title role of Tosca.
Mathias Vidal graduated from the Paris Conservatory in 2003, after studying musicology in Nice. He has been celebrated for his performance in numerous baroque operas, such as those of Monteverdi, Purcell, Rameau , Lully, Cavalli, or Campra. Vidal offers interpretations of the Light Music repertoire, the great works of the romantics and bel cantos, as well as twentieth century and contemporary works. He has recently appeared in title roles including: Orlando Paladino (Haydn), The Count Ory (Rossini), Cinq-Mars and Faust (Gounod), and Der Zwerg (Zemlinsky).
This season, he sang Abaris in Les Boréades and Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the Oldenburg Opera, the title role of Platée in Toulouse and Versailles, and Thespis in the same work at the Paris Opera. In concert, he will be heard in Lélio by Berlioz, Circé by Desmarets, Les surprises de l’amour, Zoroastre and Les Paladins by Rameau, L’Orfeo and Les vêpres by Monteverdi, and Ariane et Bacchus by Marin Marais.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Orphée aux Enfers (2012)
Distinguishing himself in various performing arts, Patrick Rocca found himself on several occasions in front of the cameras of films and television series. He was Javert in Les Misérables and Albin in La cage aux folles at the Théâtre Mogador. He played in plays, notably alongside Isabelle Adjani, and in numerous opera productions at the Opéra Comique. Above all a lyrical singer, he interprets Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Jupiter in Orpheus in the Underworld, Agamemnon in La belle Hélène and General Boum in La Grande-duchesse de Gérolstein. He also performed in concert with Katia Ricciarelli in Brahms’ Requiem at Saint Eustache in Paris and in Manon, conducted by Colin Davis, at the Royal Opera House Covent
Colin Davis, at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. In Lausanne, he was heard in La belle Hélène (2008), La Périchole (2009), La veuve joyeuse (2014), La vie parisienne (2016). He has participated in numerous filming in recent years: Baron Noir, Candice Renoir, Cain, Demain nous appartient, Garder ton nom directed by Vincent Duquesne.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: La belle Hélène (2008), La Périchole (2009), La veuve joyeuse (2014) et La vie parisienne (2016).
Clémentine Bourgoin began by learning the cello, before studying singing and acting. She has performed on various opera stages in France and Europe, notably in Hervé’s trilogy of operettas staged by Pierre-André Weitz: Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde, Mam’zelle Nitouche and V’lan dans l’œil, the last of which will be performed in 2021 at the Théâtre du Châtelet. She also sung the roles of The Shepherdess and the Bat in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges at the Opéra de Limoges and The Princess in Olivier Py’s chamber opera L’Amour vainqueur, premiered at the 2019 Avignon Festival and then performed on international tour. Recently, she played Sylvabelle in L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc at the Opéra de Lausanne and at the Opéra de Marseille, as well as Les Petites Noces, an adaptation of Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro with Les Musiciens du Louvre.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Mam’zelle Nitouche (2019), L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021) and L’amour vainqueur (2022).
Julien Dran discovered singing thanks to his parents, themselves both opera singers. He studied at the Conservatoire de Bordeaux and the CNIPAL in Marseille. After graduating from the latter, he was quickly engaged to sing increasingly important roles such as Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Fenton (Falstaff), Tebaldo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi). He won the Concours international Gayarre in Pamplona under the presidency of Teresa Berganza in 2013 and, in the same year, the Prix de l’Opéra de Paris at the Salle Gaveau in the male singer category. He has performed in France and abroad in Les Pêcheurs de perles, Fra Diavolo (where he played the title role), L’italiana in Algeri (Lindoro), Béatrice et Bénédict (Benedict) and Carlotta ou la Vaticane (Tiberius), a world premiere by Dominique Gesseney-Rappo at the Opéra de Fribourg. Among the highlights of his last seasons: Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in Marseille, Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) in Quebec, the title role in Gounod’s Faust and Alfredo (La traviata) at the opera houses of Marseille, Toulouse, Vichy and Limoges, the Viceroy of Naples in the world premiere of Marc-André Dalbavie’s Le Soulier de satin at the Opéra Bastille and Mireille at the Opéra de Metz.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: La Belle Hélène (2019), L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021) and My Fair Lady (2022).
Guillaume Paire studied at the Haute École de Musique de Genève in the class of Gilles Cachemaille and then perfected his skills with Sherman Lowe in Venice. He joined the Academy of the Festival of Aix en Provence and the Rencontres Lyriques de Genève. Member of the Rouen Opera Company from 2010 to 2012, he is Papageno in the production of William Kentridge. He made his debut at La Monnaie in Brussels as the Gendarme in Les Mamelles de Tirésias. Recently, Guillaume Paire presented his first musical one-man show “Le Blues du Perroquet” at the Saint-Etienne Opera and played Peter in Hänsel und Gretel produced by Les Variétés Lyriques.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Les mamelles de Tirésias (2016).
Originally from Marseille, Rémi Ortega began his singing studies at the Conservatoire de région de his city, in the class of Claude Méloni, then joined the Haute école de musique de Lausanne in the class of Jörg Durmuller, where he followed master classes by Alain Garichot, Laurent Pillot, Yvonne Naef and John Fiore. In 2019, he won the Prix d’interprétation de l’instant lyrique at the Concours des maîtres du chant in Paris. He made his stage debut in the role of the Corporal in La Fille du régiment in Marseille under the direction of Bruno Conti, then in the roles of the innkeeper Pasek and the Mosquito in The Cunning Little Vixen in Monthey, under the baton of Ivan Törzs. Later, he sang the title role in Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón, Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri conducted by Amaury Du Closel, and Emperor Chang in Lehar’s Das Land des Lächelns.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021) and My Fair Lady (2022).
After a bachelor’s degree with Brigitte Balleys at the HEMU, Sophie Negoïta completed her master’s degree with Barbara Bonney at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She made her debut as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) and Mrs. Coyle (Owen Wingrave by Britten). Under the direction of Philippe Huttenlocher, the Swiss-Romanian singer sang Cupid in Venus and Adonis, Venus in The British Worthy and Quivera in The Indian Queen.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Le nozze di Figaro (2021).
The French tenor Jean Miannay studied singing in Lausanne with Brigitte Balleys and in Berlin in the class of Scot Weir. He distinguished himself in 2018 at the 4th Raymond Duffaut Competition, where he won the grand prize. Following this, he won various awards at the Clermont-Ferrand Competition, the Kattenburg Competition, as well as the 2nd Vienna International Music Competition. His young lyric voice leads him to interpret roles such as Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Beppe (Pagliacci), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Alfredo (La traviata), Vincent (Mireille), or Des Grieux (Manon). In 2018, he made his first steps at the Lausanne Opera, where he performs regularly thereafter. He sings in France at the operas of Massy, Avignon and Clermont-Ferrand, as well as at the Chorégies d’Orange for the fourth consecutive year. In 2022, he made his German debut at the Theater Magdeburg in a production of Orpheus in der Unterwelt. Curious by nature, he also flourishes in contemporary creation as well as in chamber music. He has performed Benjamin Britten’s Illuminations and Serenade for horn and tenor, Janáček’s Diary of the Missing and Schumann’s Dichterliebe. He is expected this summer as Remendado (Carmen) at the Chorégies d’Orange and joins the Opéra Studio du Rhin for the 2023/24 season.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon (2018), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (2019), Rinaldo (2020), L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021), Semiramide, Eugene Onegin and L’elisir d’amore (2022).
Miss Helvetia has made a name for herself in the Swiss folk scene with her legendary stage performances. Her debut album immediately shot to the top of the Swiss charts: “E Guete” made a smashing debut at number four in the charts and stayed in the top 20 for several weeks. Having a personal connection to the French-speaking part of Switzerland, the Oberlandaise couldn’t resist releasing three of her best hits in French. “E Guete – Bon appétit” was released on August 3, 2018, and took her straight to the top spot of the best-selling albums. Whether she is yodeling, singing or hosting a show, Barbara Klossner aka Miss Helvetia, convinces and touches with her incredible talent, authenticity true to traditions and delightfully crazy side. She lent her voice to the official song of the Unspunnen Festival in 2017. For the Swiss National Day on August 1, she sings the national anthem on the Rütli meadow – in all four national languages and in front of the TV cameras. But Miss Helvetia is always curious and open to new things, which is why she decided to write her own songs.
Yuki Tsurusaki received her vocal training from Hiroko Kawamichi at the Haute école de musique de Lausanne. From an early age, she has loved the stage: practicing the piano as well as dance, she is an artist equally at ease in both the danced and sung repertoires. Keen to touch her audience, she attaches great importance to interpretation and her relationship with the body, which she has developed in particular with Armand Deladoëy and Enmando. She won the Mosetti scholarship during her studies, as well as first prizes at the Vienne en Voix and Léopold Bellan competitions in Paris. In the operatic repertoire, she sings the roles of Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone, Miles in The Turn of The Screw, Micaëla and Frasquita in Carmen, as well as creations such as Il gatto con gli stivali by Rinaldo Bellucci at the Turin Opera. She performs at various festivals in Japan, Russia and the United States. She is currently perfecting her vocal skills with the likes of Ludovic Tézier, Béatrice Uria-Monzon, Antoine Palloc and Nadine Denize.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Les Zoocrates by Thierry Besançon (2017), Die Fledermaus (2018), Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021), Le Petit Chaperon rouge by Guy-François Leuenberger (2021), L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021), Orphée aux Enfers (2023).
Co-host of several radio programs (“5/5”, “Au fond à gauche”, “Aqua Concert”…), Patrick Lapp pursues in parallel a career as an actor, in particular at the Théâtre de l’Atelier in Geneva under the direction of François Rochaix. He then joined the T’Act with André Steiger. Then came Bergamote, a show with Claude-Inga Barbey and Claude Blanc. Tours in French-speaking Switzerland, France and at the Petit Hébertot for a year, then at the Grand Hébertot for six months in Paris. Recently, he won the Quartz for best actor in Swiss cinema with La Vanité, directed by Lionel Baier. In March 2022, he will perform La Contrebasse, by Patrick Süskind, in Lausanne.
The Opéra de Lausanne Choir is young, made up of students of singing from Lausanne’s University of Music and the Geneva HEM, and professional singers. Its members are selected by audition and periodically reheard. For each opera, they are distributed depending on their voice and/or aptitudes. Thanks mainly to their talent on stage, supported by an infectious enthusiasm, they are highly appreciated by all the theatre directors invited. For a few years the choir has benefitted from preparation by several experienced choir masters from different backgrounds, chosen depending on the works being sung and their specific interest.
A graduate of the École nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre in France, Bruno de Lavenère creates stage designs for opera, dance and theatre. In 2014, the Syndicat professionnel de la critique de théâtre, de musique et de danse awarded him the prize for best creator of scenographic elements with the video artist Etienne Guiol in the opera category for the set design of Doctor Atomic in Strasbourg. He has worked with Thomas Jolly, Lucinda Childs, Jean-Louis Grinda, Renée Auphan, Jean-Romain Vesperini, Richard Brunel, Frédéric Roels, Max Emanuel Cencic and Gilles Rico. Among his latest creations are Roméo et Juliette at the Opéra Bastille, Armide at the Opéra-Comique, On purge bébé at La Monnaie, Henry VIII at Bard (New York), L’Avare at the Comédie-Française, Macbeth Underworld at La Monnaie, Norma in Muscat (Oman), Mozart and Salieri in Lyon, Il trovatore in Lille and Luxembourg, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte in Rouen, Quai Ouest and Cav/Pag in Strasbourg, The Sleeping Beauty in Basel, Les Petites Noces at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, La Belle Hélène at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Little Nemo and Maria Republica in Nantes, Re Orso at the Opéra-Comique, Carmen in Hong Kong, La bohème at the Bolshoi, Otello in Monte-Carlo and Akhnaten in Nice.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Siroe (2016), La Vie parisienne (2016), La Donna del lago (2018), Cendrillon (2018) and The White Horse Inn (2021).
Karolina Luisoni studied fashion design at the University of Art and Design in Krakow. She continued her training in costume and textile design at the University of Huddersfield, England. Her graduation project in 2013 won her a special award from actor Sir Patrick Steward, as well as a prize from the Northern Society of Costumes and Textiles. In 2015, she won the international competition organized by Luc Besson, for the costumes in his film Valérian et la Cité des mille planètes. In 2019, her “Mephistopheles” costume was exhibited at the Moscow State Historical Museum as part of the “Innovative Costume of the 21st Century: Next Generation” exhibition.
Since 2015, she has collaborated with several theater companies in Switzerland and abroad, and initiated her collaboration with the Opéra de Lausanne, where she participated in the workshop in the making of several Opéra de Lausanne creations. In 2017, she helped create the costumes for the production of Don Giovanni directed by Éric Vigié, followed by Eugène Onéguine in 2021 at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. Her first production at Opéra de Lausanne was Cendrillon in 2018, followed by L’auberge du Cheval Blanc directed by Gilles Rico in 2021. Karolina Luisoni also works with theaters and theater companies in French-speaking Switzerland, most recently for Les Voyages Extraordinaires, TKM and Petit Théâtre Lausanne, where she will make her latest creation in December 2022 for the show Little Nemo.
In recent years in Europe, David Debrinay has mainly created lighting for theater and opera for Lucinda Childs, Max-Emmanuel Cencic, Jakob Peter-Messer, Nicola Raab, Jean Lacornerie, Laurent Brethome, Jean-Claude Berutti, Johanny Bert, Jean Louis Benoit, Richard Brunel. He also works in the field of dance, collaborating with Bruno Bouché, Alejandro Cerrudo, Yann Raballand, Davy Brun and Jonah Bokaer.
Recently, David Debrinay created LJOMA, a lighting design studio for which he is the artistic director. With this studio, he designs lighting universes in the field of luxury events by collaborating with Hermès, Chanel, Cartier, Pinto, Jonathon Beck (New York), K2 and WB (Shanghai) or Once (Beirut).
At the Opéra de Lausanne : La donna del lago (2018)
Jean-Philippe Guilois entered the National School of the Paris Opera in 1997 and then joined the Rudra Béjart School, with which he participated in several shows and international tours. He made his first professional experience with the Compagnie Buissonnière in Parce que je t’aime, presented at the Théâtre de Vidy-Lausanne. While multiplying his contracts as a dancer, he was introduced to the world of opera as a stage manager, and then became assistant director for La bohème, Nabucco, Carmen and Madame Butterfly at the Avenches Opera Festival, L’Aiglon and La Traviata at the Opéra de Marseille, Armide and Cendrillon at the Opéra de Nancy, Falstaff at the Opéra de Montpellier. Recently, he created the choreographies of My fair Lady at the Opéra de Marseille, Un ballo in maschera at the Opéra de Nancy and Tannhäuser at the Opéra national de Lyon. He currently devotes himself to the creation of choreographies, plays and stage productions.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Alcina (2011), My fair Lady (2015), La vie parisienne (2016), Don Giovanni (2017), Così fan tutte (2018), Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), L’auberge du Cheval Blanc (2019) and Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021), My Fair Lady (2022) and Davel (2023)