A Story for Four Seasons
was created and directed by Hansjörg Betschart. The
piece intertwines onstage
action with a live performance of Vivaldi's The Four
Seasons.
Betschart masterfully tells the tale of Beauty
and the Beast, subtly weaving together this well-known story
with
elements of Kabuki theatre and urgent contemporary themes, such as
incest and exploitation. The play is
completely intertwined with Vivaldi's music, enhanced
by composer Mario
Beretta, who conducted,
performed at the cembalo and composed incidental music where
the plot required it..
The
solo violinist enacts the role of a guiding and protective
spirit that
shadows and circles the characters, occasionally seen by them, as a
village fiddler or a butterfly (a feather marionette attached to the
violin bow by a string), for example.
Eine
Geschichte für
Vier Jahreszeiten
(A Story for
Four Seasons)
was premiered at the Zürich Opera House and performed this
realization over fifty times in Switzerland through 1991 and 1992
(photos at the bottom of this page). The
cast of the original production included actors Lazlo
Kish, Ursula Andermatt, Ueli
Jäggi, and Cornelia Kempers, a
small orchestra, and violinist Maja Cerar.
In August 2002,
Hansjörg Betschart mounted a revival of the show for the Viva
Vivaldi Baroque music festival in Mexico City, with actors Arturo
Barba, Samantha Salgado, Arturo Echeverria, Carmen Durand, and myself.
These performances happened at the Teatro de la Ciudad de Mexico the
production was filmed for Mexican National Television.