Il viaggio a Reims

Corinna
Mariangela Sicilia

La Marchesa Melibea
Marina Viotti

La Contessa di Folleville
Albina Shagimuratova

Madama Cortese
Ruth Iniesta

Il Cavaliere Belfiore
Ruzil Gatin

Il Conte di Libenskof
Sergey Romanovsky

Lord Sidney
Adrian Sâmpetrean

Don Profondo
Misha Kiria

Il Barone di Trombonok
Fabio Capitanucci

Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana

Francesc Perales, chorus master    

Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana

The action takes place at the “Golden Lily” spa in the French town of Plombières-les-Bains. It is May, 1825. Madame Cortese, the owner of the spa, is concerned about the attention that guests will receive when they spend the night there on their way to Reims’ to witness the coronation of Charles X. The future of her business, which has seen better times, depends on customer satisfaction.

The Countess of Folleville appears, restless at the delay of the coach that is supposed to bring her to Reims. When she finds out that it has suffered an accident, she faints. Upon recovering, she regrets the loss of her wardrobe, although she is relieved to see her maid with a hat box that they have been able to recover from the disaster.

The travelers gather to wait for fresh horses so that they continue their journey; among them are the Spanish gentleman Don Álvaro and the Russian count Liebenskof, who are rivals for the love of the Polish Marquise Melibea. Other travelers include Don Profondo, an Italian antiques dealer, and the German baron Trombonok, who observes the wooing lovers with amusement. Just as things seem to be getting out of hand among the group of travelers, a harp is heard offstage and the voice of the Roman poet Corinna intones an ode to fraternal love that returns serenity to those present. The stage empties.

Lord Sidney, an English gentleman, appears, lamenting his unrequited love for Corinna. Don Profondo interrogates him about some antiques and the Englishman leaves just before the poet and her friend Delia appear. When Corinna is alone, the French gentleman Belfiore arrives and declares his love, but she rejects him. Don Profondo, who has witnessed the scene, laughs when he imagines the Countess’ reaction if she knew of Belfiore’s infidelity. He then sings an amusing monologue describing the travelers and their nations based on the contents of each of their bags.

The impatient guests reappear only to be stunned by the news that it has been impossible to hire fresh horses; the trip ends at this stop. Madame Cortese provides the solution with a letter announcing great celebrations in Paris after the coronation in Reims. Countess Folleville invites everyone to her house in Paris, where they will be able to go on the next day’s coach. To liven up the wait, they decide to organize a banquet with the money they had planned to spend in Reims. Once the travelers leave to organize the banquet, Trombonok reconciles Melibea with Liebenskof.

In the garden, the banquet is prepared. Trombonok has even managed to gather together an orchestra for the occasion. The dinner, enlivened with songs sung by the diners, ends with an improvised poem by Corinna dedicated to the coronation of Charles X, to which everyone present responds with cheers to France.