—
The good Auberge du Cheval Blanc, a friendly and troubling stay
This sums up the intrigues taking place in this charming establishment in the Austrian countryside. The arrival of a merchant from Marseilles and his daughter soon breaks the calm and peaceful atmosphere and leads to misunderstandings between the staff and guests, which only the advice of Emperor Franz Josef himself can solve… But what does it matter when it comes to charming the public to the sounds of the latest wild rhythms from across the Atlantic?
The Auberge du Cheval Blanc is Berlin’s most famous operetta of the interwar period, a delightful blend of Tyrolean folklore, Viennese operetta and Berlin cabaret. That’s how successful it was: translated into many languages, its French adaptation earned it more than 1,700 performances at the Théâtre du Châtelet at the time!
Operetta in two acts
after Blumenthal and G. Kaldenburg
by Eric Charell and Hans Müller – Lyrics by Robert Gilbert
Interspersed Airs by Robert Stolz and Robert Gilbert
Musical adaptation by Paul Bonneau
French adaptation by Lucien Besnard – Lyrics by René Dorin
First performed on September 29, 1968
Edition Raoul Breton
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).
Born in Marseille, Gilles Rico studied music and philosophy before taking a doctorate in medieval philosophy at Oxford University. In parallel to his academic career, he turned to opera directing, first working as an assistant for various European opera houses and festivals. He has collaborated with directors such as Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser, Joël Pommerat, Tom Cairns, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Jérôme Deschamps, Andreas Homoki, David McVicar, Damiano Michieletto, Robert Carsen, James Gray and Katie Mitchell. In 2016, Gilles Rico directed the world premiere of Maria Republica by François Paris at Angers-Nantes Opéra, which received the Prix de la Critique 2016. He also directed Un dîner avec Jacques, a show based on Offenbach produced by the Opéra-Comique and the Musée d’Orsay, which was then taken on tour in France. He directed the participatory opera Tistou les pouces verts by Henri Sauguet at the Opéra de Rouen, then staged Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio at the Philharmonie de Paris. Recently, he directed Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon at the Opéra de Lausanne and the participatory opera Les petites Noces after Mozart at the Rouen Opera, at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées and on tour in France. As a librettist, Gilles Rico wrote the libretto of La Princesse Légère by Violetta Cruz, a commission from the Opéra Comique and the Opéra de Lille, and the libretto of the chamber opera Les rois mages by Fabian Panisello, which he also directed in Madrid and Nice. Among his projects are the revival of Les Rois mages at the Dubai Expo, the staging of Benatzsky’s L’Auberge du Cheval Blanc at the Opéra de Lausanne, the world premiere of Zad Moultaka’s Hémon at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg and the staging of Don Giovanni at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Cendrillon , Pauline Viardot (2018) et re-staging of Le Nozze di Figaro (2021).
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.
Julien Dran discovered singing thanks to his parents, themselves opera singers. He studied at the Bordeaux Conservatory and the CNIPAL in Marseille. After his studies at the CNIPAL, he was hired 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 International “Gayarre” Competition in Pamplona under the presidency of Teresa Berganza in 2013. He has performed in France and abroad in Les Pêcheurs de perles, as well as in the roles of Fra Diavolo (title role), L’Italiana in Algeri (Lindoro) and Béatrice et Bénédict (Bénédict). His projects include roles in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, the title role in Gounod’s Faust, The Viceroy of Naples in the world premiere of Marc-André Dalbavie’s Le Soulier de satin in Paris at the Opéra Bastille and Mireille at the Opéra de Metz.
At the Opéra de Lausanne, he has performed in : La belle Hélène (2019) and L’auberge du Cheval Blanc (2021).
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).
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)
Clémentine Bourgoin began by learning to play the cello before she studied singing and drama. She has performed in French and European opera houses, notably in Hervé’s trilogy of operettas directed by Pierre-André Weitz: The Knights of the Round Table, Mam’zelle Nitouche, and soon V’lan Dans l’Oeil at the Opéra de Bordeaux in 2021. She has recently sung La Pastourelle and the bat in Ravel’s The Child and the Spells at the Opéra de Limoges, and La Princesse in the chamber opera of Olivier Py L’Amour Vainqueur, currently touring internationally and in Lausanne in January 2022.
Julien Dran discovered singing thanks to his parents, themselves opera singers. He studied at the Bordeaux Conservatory and the CNIPAL in Marseille. After his studies at the CNIPAL, he was hired 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 International “Gayarre” Competition in Pamplona under the presidency of Teresa Berganza in 2013. He has performed in France and abroad in Les Pêcheurs de perles, as well as in the roles of Fra Diavolo (title role), L’Italiana in Algeri (Lindoro) and Béatrice et Bénédict (Bénédict). His projects include roles in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, the title role in Gounod’s Faust, The Viceroy of Naples in the world premiere of Marc-André Dalbavie’s Le Soulier de satin in Paris at the Opéra Bastille and Mireille at the Opéra de Metz.
At the Opéra de Lausanne, he has performed in : La belle Hélène (2019) and L’auberge du Cheval Blanc (2021).
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).
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.
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.
After a degree in Italian, Laurène Paternò joined the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne as a bachelor and obtained a master’s degree as a soloist in 2019. Within this context, she participated in a Swiss musical performed in Rio de Janeiro on the occasion of the 2016 Olympic Games. She also performed the roles of Blanche de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro). She then made her debut as Serpina (La serva padrona) in an Opéra de Lausanne production in Bhutan in 2018. She appeared at the Nouvel Opéra de Fribourg as Sofiya, Yelena and a KGB agent in Russell Hepplewhite’s Laika, the Dog in Space. In 2020, was part of the Opéra Comique de Paris programme in a revival of Laïka, le chien dans l’espace. She performed Fille-Fleur in Parsifal at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2021, and Mélusine in a revival of Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde at the Opéra Grand Avignon. She is scheduled to perform as Despina (Così fan tutte) at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Théâtre de Caen in 2022. She won first prize in the Kattenburg competition at the Opéra de Lausanne in 2019 and second prize in the Corsica Lirica competition in 2021.
At the Opera of Lausanne, she has performed in: La serva padrona (Bouthan 2018), Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), La belle Hélène (2020) and Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021).
French tenor Jean Miannay studied singing with Brigitte Balleys at the HEMU and with Scot Weier at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. His first roles were at the Opéra de Lausanne. In September 2021, he performed Ferrando in Così fan tutte in Lausanne and Fribourg, in a co-production between the HEMU and the HEM-Genève. He made his French stage debut in 2020 as Beppe in Pagliacci at the Opéra du Grand Avignon – a production repeated at the Opéra de Vichy, Clermont-Ferrand and the Festival de Saint-Céré. In 2020 he also appeared in the “Magic Night” performed for the first time at the Chorégies d’Orange. He was invited back the following year for a recital entitled “Emerging Scene”. He is expected to appear as Isepo in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda in 2022.
At the Opéra de Lausanne he has performed in : Cendrillon de Pauline Viardot (2018), Les contes d’Hoffmann (2019), Rinaldo (2020), L’auberge du Cheval Blanc (2021) and Semiramide (2022).
Yuki Tsurusaki graduated from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne (class of Hiroko Kawamichi). She won the competitions of “Vienne en Voix” in Vivonne and “Leopold Bellan” in Paris. She also won the Colette Mosetti scholarship and various other competitions in France and abroad. She has sung the roles of Micaëla and Frasquita with Béatrice Uria-Monzon and Antoine Palloc, and has been heard as Lucy in The Telephone, and as Miles in The Turn of the Screw. In concert, she has performed in France, Japan, Russia and the United States.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Les Zoocrates by Thierry Besançon (2017), Die Fledermaus (2018), Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021) and Le petit chaperon rouge by Guy-François Leuenberger (2021).
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.
Jacques Blanc studied the piano at the Conservatoire National de Marseille, and orchestra conducting with Jésus Etcheverry. He began as a singing master then became choir master at the Nantes and Strasbourg Operas. He supported Jeffrey Tate and George Prêtre, before becoming a conductor himself in Bordeaux, Montpellier, Limoges, Nice and Nantes. Between 1986 and 1988 he was director of vocal studies at the CNIPAL national opera centre in Marseille. From 1999 to 2010, he became the permanent chorus master and director of vocal studies of the Opéra National de Bordeaux, and contributed to performances such as Turandot, Carmen and La Bohème. He now devotes himself to conducting and the study of repertoire with young singers to guide them in their careers. He recently conducted La Traviata while on tour with the Opéra en Plein Air. At the Opéra de Lausanne: Die Zauberflöte (1991) assisting Armin Jordan; Phi-Phi (2014) and La belle de Cadix (2016) as conductor; Manon (2014), Die lustige Witwe (2014), My Fair Lady (2015), Les mamelles de Tirésias (2016), La vie parisienne (2016), La Bohème, Hamlet and Lucia di Lammermoor (2017), Die Fledermaus (2018) as chorus master.
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).
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 earned her a special award from actor Sir Patrick Steward, as well as an award from the Northern Society of Costumes and Textiles. She is the winner of the international competition organized in 2015 by Luc Besson, for the costumes of his film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. In 2019, her costume “Mephistopheles” was exhibited at the Moscow State Historical Museum as part of the exhibition “Innovative Costume of the 21st Century: Next Generation”.
Since 2015, she has collaborated with several theater companies in Switzerland and abroad and initiated her collaboration with the Opéra de Lausanne. Hired in the costume workshops of the institution, she holds the role of assistant to the costume making. In 2017, she assisted in the creation of the costumes for the production of Don Giovanni. She realized her first creation at the Opéra de Lausanne during the production of Cinderella in 2018.
A graduate of the École nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre in France, Bruno de Lavenère creates set designs for opera, dance and theater. 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 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, let’s mention 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 Bolchoï, Otello in Monte-Carlo and Akhnaten in Nice.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Siroe (2016), La vie parisienne (2016), La donna del lago (2018) and Cendrillon (2019).
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 had his first professional experience with the Compagnie Buissonnière in Parce que je t’aime, presented at the Théâtre de Vidy. 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 Madama 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 choreography for My Fair Lady at the Opéra de Marseille and Un ballo in maschera for the Opéra de Nancy, Opera Zuid and Angers-Nantes Opéra. He currently devotes himself to the creation of choreographies, plays and stagings.
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) and staging and choreography of Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021).