Le chalet

Performance history

The opera was premiered on 25 September 1834 by the Paris Opéra-Comique at the Salle de la Bourse. 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.

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 National de Paris (shelf mark F. 2736).

1. Introduction et Chorus (sopranos 1 & 2, tenors, basses) "Déjà dans la plaine"
2. Air (Daniel) "Elle est à moi! C'est ma compagne"
3. Couplets (Bettly) "Dans ce modeste et simple asile"
4. Air (Max) "Arrêtons-nous ici!"
5. Ensemble (Max, Bettly, tenors 1 & 2, basses) "Par cet étroit sentier"
6. Couplets with chorus (Max, tenors 1 & 2, basses, a soldier) "Dans le service de l'Autriche"
   (cont.) Ensemble (Bettly, Max, tenors 1 & 2, basses) "Malgré moi je frissonne"
7. Duo (Bettly, Daniel) "Prêt à quitter ceux que l'on aime"
8. Duo (Max, Daniel) "Il faut me céder ta maitresse"
9. Romance (Daniel, Bettly) "Adieu vous que j'ai tant chérie"
10. Trio et Finale (Daniel, Max, Bettly, chorus) "Soutiens mon bras"

Recordings