''Betly, ossia La capanna svizzera'' ("Betly, or The Swiss Chalet") is a ''

dramma giocoso ''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The ge ...

'' in two acts (originally one) by the Italian composer

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

. The composer wrote the Italian

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

after

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of man ...

and Mélésville's libretto for

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and '' Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le pos ...

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

'' Le chalet'', in its turn based on

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk-like ...

''Jery und Bätely'' (1779).

Performance history

The opera premiered at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples on 24 August 1836.Albinati, Giuseppe (1912). ''Piccolo dizionario di opere teatrali, oratori, cantate, ecc.''
"''Betly''"
Milano: G. Ricordi & C. Retrieved 1 November 2015 .Cassaro, James P. (2009). ''Gaetano Donizetti: A Research and Information Guide''
"''Betly, ossia La capanna svizzera''"
. Routledge. The initial performance was not well-received due to the vocal decline of

Giuseppe Fioravanti Giuseppe Fioravanti ( 1795 – ?) was an Italian opera singer active during the first half of the 19th century. Although one of the most important and popular basso buffos of his generation, there is only a relatively small amount of information a ...

, the performer of the baritone role. However, the revision prepared by Donizetti for subsequent performances was a marked success. This success prompted the composer to expand the opera from one act to two acts. The two-act version of ''Betly'' was first presented on 29 September 1837 at the

Teatro del Fondo The Teatro del Fondo is a theatre in Naples, now known as the Teatro Mercadante. It is located on Piazza del Municipio, Naples, Piazza del Municipio #1, with the front facing the west side of Castel Nuovo, Naples, Castel Nuovo and near the Molo (Doc ...

, Naples. Other Italian cities, where performances of the opera were given, include:

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

in 1837,Mesa, Franklin (2007). ''Opera: An Encyclopedia of World Premieres and Significant Performances, Singers, Composers, Librettists, Arias and Conductors, 1597–2000''
"''Betly, osia La capanna svizzera''"
. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland. Retrieved 1 November 2015.

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

in 1838,

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

in 1845,

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1851, and

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

in 1859. The opera was also performed in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

in 1837, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in 1842, and in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in 1844. It was transformed into a Spanish

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of ...

, ''Propósito de mujer'', by Emilio Álvarez in 1864 and presented the same year in Madrid. The first American performance of the complete opera took place on 25 October 1861 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, followed by the one on 28 October 1861 in New York City; fragments of the opera were heard in concerts already in 1840s. One notable performance in London was on 9 January 1838, with

Frederick Lablache Frederick Lablache (29 August 1815 – 30 January 1887) was an English singer. The eldest son of Luigi Lablache, vocalist, was educated by his father. He married and worked with the singer Fanny Wyndham. They both taught at the Academy of Music ...

singing the baritone role; the English adaptation of ''Betly'' was presented there for the first time in 1841. The French adaptation, prepared by

Hippolyte-Julien-Joseph Lucas Hippolyte-Julien-Joseph Lucas (20 December 1807, Rennes – 16 November 1878, Paris) was a French writer and critic whose literary output was largely centered on theatre and opera. He was the author of several plays and opera libretti. In a ...

after the death of the composer, with additional music written by Adolphe Adam,

Chouquet, Gustave Gustave Chouquet (16 April 1819 – 30 January 1886)Grove & Charlton 2001. was a French music historian, music critic, and teacher of French. Early life and career Born Adolphe-Gustave Chouquet in Le Havre, he spent six years in Paris studying ...

(1873). ''Histoire de la musique dramatique en France depuis ses origines jusqu'à nos jours''
"''Betly''"
. Paris: Typographie Ambroise Firmin Didot. Retrieved 1 November 2015 .
"Académie impériale de musique: ''Betly'', opéra en deux actes, paroles de M. Hippolyte Lucas, musique de Donizetti"
''

Revue et gazette musicale de Paris The ' was a weekly musical review founded in 1827 by the Belgian musicologist, teacher and composer François-Joseph Fétis, then working as professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire de Paris. It was the first French-language ...

''. 21e Année, 1er Janvier 1854, pp. 2–3. Retrieved 1 November 2015 premiered in Paris in 1853, but had little success., and Larousse, Pierre (1873). ''Dictionnaire lyrique, ou Histoire des opéras: contenant l'analyse et la nomenclature de tous les opéras et opéras-comiques représentés en France et à l'étranger, depuis l'origine de ce genre d'ouvrages jusqu'à nos jours''
"''Betly"''
. Paris: Imprimerie Pierre Larousse. Retrieved 1 November 2015 . The German premiere of ''Betly'' was in Berlin in 2015 in a semi-staged performance by

Berliner Operngruppe The Berliner Operngruppe is a German opera society with its own chorus and orchestra, based in Berlin, with the mission to revive rarely played Italian operas in Berlin. Since 2013 the semi-staged performances take place in Konzerthaus Berlin am Gen ...

. The opera was staged sporadically in the 20th and 21st centuries: in

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

in 1948, 1968, 1993, and 2014;Jernigan, Charles
"Bergamo Musica Festival, 2014: Donizetti's ''Torquato Tasso'' & ''Betly''"
Donizetti Society. Retrieved 26 October 2015 .Dellabianca, Andrea
"Bergamo Musica Festival 2014: ''Betly''"
''GBopera Magazine''. Retrieved 26 October 2015 . in

Fermo Fermo (ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest hum ...

in 1988;Lo Presti, Fulvio and Branca, Giacomo (1988)
"Festival di Fermo: con Donizetti alla Rocca Tiepolo una bella sera d'estate (25 luglio 1988) – ''La romanziera e l'uomo nero'' e ''Betly''"
Donizetti Society. Newsletter 46. Retrieved 31 October 2015 . in

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...

in 1990; in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

in 1933; in London in 1954 and 1995; and in Berlin in 2015.

Roles

Synopsis

The synopsis below refers to the two-act version of the opera following the

Casa Ricordi Casa Ricordi is a publisher of primarily classical music and opera. Its classical repertoire represents one of the important sources in the world through its publishing of the work of the major 19th-century Italian composers such as Gioachino Ro ...

edition of its libretto current in the 20th century. :Time: 18th century :Place:

Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...

, Switzerland Daniele Birman, a young Swiss landowner, is in love with Betly, a beautiful and independent girl, who, however, doesn't return his feelings. As the opera begins, the inhabitants of Appenzell have prepared for a joke a fake love letter from Betly to Daniele, accepting his marriage proposal. The young man is elated and invites the villagers to his wedding celebrations. Soon after, Betly arrives and discovers the situation. Even though she momentarily feels pity for Daniele, she dashes his hopes and resolutely rejects his pleas for marriage. Sad Daniele stumbles upon a troop of Swiss soldiers under the command of Sergeant Max Starner, and out of desperation tries to enlist in the army. Daniele confides in Max, not realizing he is Betly's brother gone from the Canton of Appenzell for fifteen years, to whom he has recently sent a letter informing of his intention to marry Betly, and whose encouragement he has received. Max decides to teach his sister a lesson and secure a happy ending for Daniele. To that end, he orders his soldiers to turn Betly's house upside down. The soldiers eagerly obey and demand food and alcohol from Betly. Max conceals his identity from the sister, and frightens her into believing that if after fifteen days he and his troop depart satisfied, she will have to house the entire regiment. Betly begs Daniele to stay with her for a day, in order to keep the unruly soldiers at bay. Overjoyed Daniele agrees, while Betly starts to feel sympathy for him. Max pretends to be drunk and makes false advances on Betly, who calls upon Daniele's help. After an argument Max challenges Daniele to a duel at midnight, which the latter accepts. For Max the duel is just a vehicle to bring Daniele and Betly together. To calm down anxious Betly, Daniele tells her that the sergeant has apologized, then swears eternal love to her and says he is leaving to join the army. At this moment Max reappears and pretends he will fight with Daniele. Betly, by now feeling a genuine affection for Daniele, attempts to prevent the duel and to save Daniele from being killed. Max says he may well show clemency if he knew Daniele were married. Upon hearing this, Betly gathers her courage and claims Daniele is in fact her husband, and father of the family, for that matter. As a proof of her words, Max first forces Betly and Daniele to embrace each other, and next demands the marriage contract to be shown. Betly finds and signs the document, that was already signed by a deceived Daniele in preparation for his "wedding". She gives the contract to Max and secretly tells Daniele that this is a ruse: in order to be valid, the document must also be signed by her brother Max. Once Max has the papers in his hands, he quickly signs them and reveals his identity. Betly proclaims her love for Daniele and the story happily concludes.

Structure

The information below refers to the two-act version of the opera as appearing in an older edition by

current in the 20th century. Further stages of Donizetti's reworking of the opera are reflected in a newer critical edition by the same publisher. Given Donizetti's readiness to adapt to external conditions and a particular choice of singers by adding, subtracting or modifying musical numbers, it is impossible to talk of a definitive version of ''Betly'' beyond a general classification into the one-act and two-act versions.

Act 1

Overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

* Daniele and Chorus: Introduction "Gia l'aurora in cielo appar" and

cavatina Cavatina is a musical term, originally meaning a short song of simple character, without a second strain or any repetition of the air. It is now frequently applied to any simple, melodious air, as distinguished from brilliant arias or recitatives ...

"E fia ver?" * Daniele: Recitative "Amici miei" * Betly: Cavatina "In questo semplice, modesto asilo" * Betly and Daniele:

Recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

"Ho mangiato e bene" and duet "Ah! Io sognai che me beato" * Daniele: Recitative "È finita per me" * Max and chorus: Choir "Maledetta la vita di stento", recitative "Alto facciam, compagni" and cavatina "Ti vedo, ti bacio, terreno natio" * Max: Recitative "Al riposo, compagni" * Max and Daniele: Recitative "Oh, giovinotto, dimmi" * Betly, Max, Chorus: Scene, choir and finale 1 "Per questa via remota"

Act 2

* Chorus: Introduction "Che si tarda?" * Betly, Max and Chorus: Recitative "Lasciatemi... che volete da me?" and

brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

"I destini del soldato" * Betly and Daniele: Recitative "Tutto il giorno" and duet "Dolce instante inaspettato" * Betly, Daniele and Max: Recitative "Che! L'ha fatto restar" and terzet "Davvero la scelta è buona" * Daniele and Max: Recitative "Bassa la voce" and duet "O la bella immantinente" * Betly, Max, Daniele and Chorus: Recitative "Mi reggo appena in piè" and "Se crudele il cor mostrai"

Analysis

Donizetti's work on ''Betly'' fell on difficult years in his life, marked by the loss of his parents, daughter, and wife, and troubles due to the opera mismanagement in Naples. Nevertheless, the opera attests to the composer's creative powers. With its rustic setting, a baritone soldier, and an independent and beautiful soprano, initially resisting courtship by a good-natured tenor, the plot of ''Betly'' bears an obvious resemblance to Donizetti's earlier work, ''

L'elisir d'amore ''L'elisir d'amore'' (''The Elixir of Love'', ) is a ' (opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's ' (1831). The opera premiere ...

''. Characters in the opera are depicted with mastery and vivacity, the music is tuneful, and the orchestration refined. The universal confusion at the end of act 1, with Betly confronting Max and his soldiers, resembles the one typical of

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

's operas. The "Swiss" character of the work is highlighted by employing a

yodel Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from th ...

-type figure in Betly's cavatina "In questo semplice, modesto asilo". The latter aria was appreciated by musical critics of the 19th century for its charm and freshness, and was a popular choice as a concert piece. ''Betly'' also features an amusing instance of a musical joke: sleepy Daniele contributes notated yawns to Betly's concluding

cadenza In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), sol ...

in their duet "Dolce instante inaspettato". Furthermore, the duet of Daniele and Max "Ah! Mi sprona la gloria" presents a subtle parody of "heroic" duets of tenors and baritones, of which Donizetti himself wrote several. The principal differences between the one-act and two-act versions of the opera are the addition of an overture, replacement of spoken dialogues with recitatives set to music,Boaretto, Danilo
"Bergamo Musica Festival 'G. Donizetti' – Teatro Sociale: ''Betly''"
OperaClick. Retrieved 26 October 2015 . addition and expansion of musical numbers, and transposition of the soprano role down a semitone.

Recordings

Betly's cavatina "In questo semplice, modesto asilo" has been recorded by three leading

bel canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

repertory exponents of the 20th century,

Dame Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s. She possess ...

Montserrat Caballé Montserrat Caballé i Folch or Folc (full name: María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch (, , ; (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), known simply as Montserrat Caballé, was a Catalan Spanish operatic soprano. She sang a wide va ...

and

Margherita Carosio Margherita Carosio (7 June 1908 – 10 January 2005) was an Italian operatic soprano. Her voice is preserved in many Parlophone and Ultraphon recordings made before World War II, as well as a memorable series made for HMV in London, beginning in ...

. There are two full-length recordings of the opera:

References

Notes Sources * *

External links

Libretto in Italian
(one-act version) with English translation on the Casa Bongiovanni website
Libretto in Italian
(one-act version) with English translation on

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

Libretto in Italian
(two-act version) on the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

website
Libretto in Italian
(two-act version) at the

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

Libretto in Italian
(two-act version) at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

*
Score
of the Cavatina ''In questo semplice, modesto asilo'' at

Fondazione Donizetti (Bergamo) website
{{Authority control Operas 1836 operas Italian-language operas Operas based on works by Eugène Scribe Operas by Gaetano Donizetti Drammi giocosi Operas set in Switzerland