Nino Rota's melodies are just as enchanting on the cinema screen as they are on the opera stage.
Farsa musicale in four acts.
Libretto by Nino Rota and Ernesta Rota after the Vaudeville Un chapeau de paille d'Italie by Eugène Labiche and Marc Antoine Amédée Michel
Performed in Italian with German and English surtitles
Premiere
31. May 2026
Dates & Cast
- Conductor Daniele Squeo
- Staging Bernd Mottl
- Set Design & Lighting Design Friedrich Eggert
- Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
- Choreinstudierung Jonathan Becker
- Dramaturgy Marlene Hahn, Dorothee Harpain
- Fadinard Piotr Buszewski
- Nonancourt Alexander Grassauer
- Baronin de Champigny Maire Therese Carmack
- Elena Rosalia Cid
- Beaupertuis Neven Crnić
- Anaide Valerie Eickhoff
- Emilio Danylo Matviienko
- Onkel Vézinet Aaron Pegram
- Eine Modistin Dalia Medovnikov
- Ein Korporal Martin-Jan Nijhof
- Felice Jongwoo Hong
- Achille di Rosalba Gerald Hupach
- Conductor Daniele Squeo
- Staging Bernd Mottl
- Set Design & Lighting Design Friedrich Eggert
- Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
- Choreinstudierung Jonathan Becker
- Dramaturgy Marlene Hahn, Dorothee Harpain
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Project Partners:
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Sachsen
Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden
Sparkassen-Versicherung Sachsen
LBBW
In cooperation with Oper Graz
- Fadinard Piotr Buszewski
- Nonancourt Alexander Grassauer
- Baronin de Champigny Maire Therese Carmack
- Elena Rosalia Cid
- Beaupertuis Neven Crnić
- Anaide Valerie Eickhoff
- Emilio Danylo Matviienko
- Onkel Vézinet Aaron Pegram
- Eine Modistin Dalia Medovnikov
- Ein Korporal Martin-Jan Nijhof
- Felice Jongwoo Hong
- Achille di Rosalba Gerald Hupach
- Conductor Daniele Squeo
- Staging Bernd Mottl
- Set Design & Lighting Design Friedrich Eggert
- Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
- Choreinstudierung Jonathan Becker
- Dramaturgy Marlene Hahn, Dorothee Harpain
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Project Partners:
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Sachsen
Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden
Sparkassen-Versicherung Sachsen
LBBW
In cooperation with Oper Graz
- Fadinard Piotr Buszewski
- Nonancourt Alexander Grassauer
- Baronin de Champigny Maire Therese Carmack
- Elena Rosalia Cid
- Beaupertuis Neven Crnić
- Anaide Valerie Eickhoff
- Emilio Danylo Matviienko
- Onkel Vézinet Aaron Pegram
- Eine Modistin Dalia Medovnikov
- Ein Korporal Martin-Jan Nijhof
- Felice Jongwoo Hong
- Achille di Rosalba Gerald Hupach
- Conductor Daniele Squeo
- Staging Bernd Mottl
- Set Design & Lighting Design Friedrich Eggert
- Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
- Choreinstudierung Jonathan Becker
- Dramaturgy Marlene Hahn, Dorothee Harpain
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Project Partners:
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Sachsen
Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden
Sparkassen-Versicherung Sachsen
LBBW
In cooperation with Oper Graz
- Fadinard Piotr Buszewski
- Nonancourt Alexander Grassauer
- Baronin de Champigny Maire Therese Carmack
- Elena Rosalia Cid
- Beaupertuis Neven Crnić
- Anaide Valerie Eickhoff
- Emilio Danylo Matviienko
- Onkel Vézinet Aaron Pegram
- Eine Modistin Dalia Medovnikov
- Ein Korporal Martin-Jan Nijhof
- Felice Jongwoo Hong
- Achille di Rosalba Gerald Hupach
- Conductor Daniele Squeo
- Staging Bernd Mottl
- Set Design & Lighting Design Friedrich Eggert
- Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
- Choreinstudierung Jonathan Becker
- Dramaturgy Marlene Hahn, Dorothee Harpain
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Project Partners:
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Sachsen
Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden
Sparkassen-Versicherung Sachsen
LBBW
In cooperation with Oper Graz
- Fadinard Piotr Buszewski
- Nonancourt Alexander Grassauer
- Baronin de Champigny Maire Therese Carmack
- Elena Rosalia Cid
- Beaupertuis Neven Crnić
- Anaide Valerie Eickhoff
- Emilio Danylo Matviienko
- Onkel Vézinet Aaron Pegram
- Eine Modistin Dalia Medovnikov
- Ein Korporal Martin-Jan Nijhof
- Felice Jongwoo Hong
- Achille di Rosalba Gerald Hupach
- Conductor Daniele Squeo
- Staging Bernd Mottl
- Set Design & Lighting Design Friedrich Eggert
- Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
- Choreinstudierung Jonathan Becker
- Dramaturgy Marlene Hahn, Dorothee Harpain
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Project Partners:
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Sachsen
Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden
Sparkassen-Versicherung Sachsen
LBBW
In cooperation with Oper Graz
- Fadinard Piotr Buszewski
- Nonancourt Alexander Grassauer
- Baronin de Champigny Maire Therese Carmack
- Elena Rosalia Cid
- Beaupertuis Neven Crnić
- Anaide Valerie Eickhoff
- Emilio Danylo Matviienko
- Onkel Vézinet Aaron Pegram
- Eine Modistin Dalia Medovnikov
- Ein Korporal Martin-Jan Nijhof
- Felice Jongwoo Hong
- Achille di Rosalba Gerald Hupach
- Conductor Daniele Squeo
- Staging Bernd Mottl
- Set Design & Lighting Design Friedrich Eggert
- Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
- Choreinstudierung Jonathan Becker
- Dramaturgy Marlene Hahn, Dorothee Harpain
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Project Partners:
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Sachsen
Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden
Sparkassen-Versicherung Sachsen
LBBW
In cooperation with Oper Graz
- Fadinard Piotr Buszewski
- Nonancourt Alexander Grassauer
- Baronin de Champigny Maire Therese Carmack
- Elena Rosalia Cid
- Beaupertuis Neven Crnić
- Anaide Valerie Eickhoff
- Emilio Danylo Matviienko
- Onkel Vézinet Aaron Pegram
- Eine Modistin Dalia Medovnikov
- Ein Korporal Martin-Jan Nijhof
- Felice Jongwoo Hong
- Achille di Rosalba Gerald Hupach
Related event
In brief
“How am I supposed to do that? I'm going mad!” On Fadinard’s wedding day, his horse eats the straw hat of a lady having a bit of fun with her lover in the bushes. But Anaide doesn’t dare return to her jealous husband Beaupertuis without her new Florentine hat: she simply has to get hold of a new one! An odyssey full of hijinks begins, taking Fadinard across the length and breadth of Paris ...
The memorable and tuneful score by Nino Rota, best known for his film music (La strada, La dolce vita, The Godfather), reflects the hectic pace of the plot. His farsa musicale revives the spirit of opera buffa with a nod towards Rossini. The acclaimed premiere of Bernd Mottl’s production for Graz Opera in May 2023 was called “delicious operatic fun” by the Kurier newspaper. The characters inhabit a landscape of oversized hat boxes. “We deliberately opted for a nostalgic black and white look,” explains Bernd Mottl, “because this focus on patterns and silhouettes allows you to delineate more clearly the differences between the characters.” All in all, an amusing treat!
Storyline
Act I
On Fadinard's wedding day of all moments, his horse eats the straw hat of a lady who is making out with her lover in the bushes. Back at his house, Fadinard tells his deaf uncle Vézinet, who is going to give a hat box as a wedding gift, about the incident. Fadinard is worked up in anticipation of his wedding with Elena. But instead of his bride, the lady with the ruined hat and her lover – Anaide and the officer Emilio – show up and demand a replacement. Fadinard orders his servant Felice to obtain an identical Florentine hat. When his father-in-law Nonancourt, his bride Elena, and the entire wedding party turn up, he hurriedly hides Anaide and Emilio in the adjoining rooms. Fadinard sends his future relatives out ahead to the registry office, but Anaide and Emilio refuse to leave: Felice has not managed to find a replacement, and without her hat, Anaide doesn’t dare return to her jealous husband, who would certainly be suspicious. Emilio even threatens a duel, so that Fadinard has no choice but to set out with the whole wedding procession in tow in search of the Florentine hat.
Intermezzo
After unsuccessfully searching all over Paris for an equivalent hat, Fadinard enters the shop of a milliner who tells him that she recently sold such a model to the Baroness de Champigny. Fadinard sets off for her villa in Passy.
Act II
The Baroness has invited guests to a reception with the famous violinist Minardi. She tells her suitor Achille di Rosalba about Minardi's custom of asking for an original form of payment instead of money. When Fadinard appears, he is immediately mistaken for the violin virtuoso. He plays along and demands the Florentine hat as payment. But the Baroness has given it to her goddaughter. In the meantime, Madame Beaupertuis, Nonancourt, Elena, and the wedding guests have ransacked the Baroness's banquet, and when the real Minardi appears, the bewildered Baroness calls the police. Fadinard and the drunken wedding party flee and head to Madame Beaupertuis’ house.
Act III
Late in the evening, Beaupertuis is waiting for the return of his wife, who went out in the morning with the Florentine hat. He is tormented by the terrible suspicion that his wife has a lover. Then Fadinard appears and searches the house for the straw hat.
Nonancourt and the wedding guests believe they are in Fadinard's house and prepare the anxious Elena for the wedding night. Fadinard tells Beaupertuis about his misadventure.
When he recognizes that the leftover straw was his wife's hat, he falls into a rage and wants to kill her. Fadinard rushes off to warn Anaide of her husband's vengefulness.
Intermezzo
Tired and disoriented, the wedding party walks through nighttime Paris when it starts to rain.
Act IV
A violent thunderstorm breaks out. The wedding procession has finally arrived in front of Fadinard's house – but Felice refuses to admit them because there is a lady in the house. Outraged by the alleged adultery, Nonancourt orders the wedding gifts to be taken back. Fadinard, who has managed to temporarily throw off his pursuer Beaupertuis, discovers Uncle Vézinet's hat box – and in it, the much sought-after Florentine hat! Filled with joy, he rushes with the box to Anaide and Emilio, but Nonancourt has secretly taken the expensive hat. He exhorts everyone to leave. The wedding procession with the many gifts seems suspicious to the guards, and they lock them up. When Beaupertuis appears in a rage, Anaide hides in the guardhouse. Emilio hurries there, and Fadinard distracts Beaupertuis – until Anaide can finally show herself to her husband: with the Florentine hat. In the meantime, Nonancourt has learned everything and forgives his son-in-law. At last, Elena and Fadinard can celebrate their long-awaited wedding night.
