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 for the premiere series of performances conducted, performed at the cembalo and composed incidental music where the plot required it.  

In this work, 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 Maja Cerar. These performances happened at the Teatro de la Ciudad de Mexico, and the production was filmed for Mexican National Television. This production was reprised at the Festival Internacional de Verano in Huatulco, Mexico during the summer of 2003.