Die Schweizer Familie (The Swiss Family) is an opera by the Austrian composer Joseph Weigl. It takes the form of a Singspiel in three acts. The libretto, by Ignaz Franz Castelli, is based on the vaudeville Pauvre Jacques (1807) by Charles-Augustin de Basson-Pierre und René André Polydore Chazet. The opera was first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 14 March 1809 and was a great success in German-speaking countries in the early 19th century.
Contents |
| Cast | Voice type | Premiere cast Vienna 1809 |
Cast Vienna 2004 / CD 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gertrude Boll | soprano | Marianna Marconi | Olivia Vermeulen |
| Richard Boll | bass | Carl Weinmüller | Stephan Bootz |
| Emmeline | soprano | Pauline Anna Milder-Hauptmann | Marília Vargas |
| Jacob Friburg | tenor | Johann Michael Vogl | Roman Payer |
| The count | bass | Ignaz Saal | Tobias Müller-Kopp |
| Paul | tenor | Joseph Caché | Robert Maszl |
| Durmann | tenor | Friedrich Demmer | Petri Mikaei Pöyhönen |
The Bolls, the Swiss family of the title, have been banished to an unspecified region in the Alps. Their daughter, Emmeline, pines away for love of Jakob, to whom she is secretly engaged. The local count, whose life was saved by Richard Boll, also shows concern for Emmeline's sufferings and with his help Emmeline and Jakob are reunited.