The Sound of Trieste
Follow the Music and discover the beauty of the Imperial city between sea and mountains
Teatro G. Verdi di Trieste
19-20-22 July
AL CAVALLINO BIANCO
Operetta by Ralph Benatzky
Concertmaster and Conductor AYRTON DESIMPELAERE
Director ANDREA BINETTI
Choreography NOEMI GAGGI and LUCA MICLAUSIG
Chorus master PAOLO LONGO
Production by Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
Main characters and performers
Josepha Vogelhuber ERICA ZULIKHA BENATO
Leopoldo Brandmeyer ANDREA BINETTI
Ottilia Pesamenole LAURA ULLOA
Giorgio Bellati FRANCESCO CASTORO
Zanetto Pesamenole GUALTIERO GIORGINI
Sigismondo Cogoli ALESSIO COLAUTTI
Claretta Hinzelmann MARZIA POSTOGNA
Prof. Hinzelmann VALENTINO PAGLIEI
The Archduke LIVIO SOLDINI
Kathi VERONIKA FOIA
Zenzi STEFANIA SECULIN
Rudi JULIAN SGHERLA
Mountain Guide MICHELA VITALI
ORCHESTRA, CHORUS AND TECHNICAL CREW OF THE FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI, TRIESTE
Performance in collaboration with the INTERNATIONAL OPERETTA ASSOCIATION as part of the 2025 OPERETTA FESTIVAL
The second most beloved and widely performed operetta in Europe returns to Trieste: Al Cavallino Bianco (The White Horse Inn), a dreamy and hilarious musical comedy about Alpine holidays. Since its debut in 1930, it has been considered the operetta closest to the musical, thanks to its vibrant variety and five-person authorship—despite being officially credited to Ralph Benatzky alone.
This new production, presented in collaboration with the International Operetta Association (Associazione Internazionale dell’Operetta), will be staged at Teatro Verdi. Anticipated by trumpet fanfares in the form of a festive flash mob by the theatre’s brass section, the operetta will be brought to life under the direction of Andrea Binetti and the baton of Ayrton Desimpelaere—two acclaimed and much-loved figures in the city’s cultural scene.
In 1930, German stages were still buzzing with witty satires of carefree Alpine getaways written in the late 19th century. That year, director Erik Charell and librettist Hans Müller-Einigen had the idea to commission a musical version. Thanks to an unusual five-handed collaboration led by Ralph Benatzky, Al Cavallino Bianco was born: a true innovation within the traditional operetta genre, with a language closer to revue and musical theatre, and a musical style echoing the jazzy songs so popular in roaring 1920s and ’30s Berlin. This sparkling whirlwind of romantic entanglements, set in the cheerful resort town of San Wolfango, weaves together the desires, passions and intrigues of the hotel’s guests and staff, culminating in no fewer than three joyful weddings—celebrated under the benevolent gaze of the Habsburg Emperor, an unexpected guest star on the shores of the idyllic Austrian lake. The presence of a large group of Italian tourists among the main characters—particularly from Bologna and Ferrara—has, since 1931, made Al Cavallino Bianco the most Italian of all German operettas, and certainly the most popular in Italy, not least thanks to the legendary RAI television productions of the 1970s. Packed with timeless melodic hits, Al Cavallino Bianco has never waned in popularity, except during the Nazi period when it was banned due to the “excessive Jewishness” of its authors. In recent years, it has enjoyed an intellectual revival thanks to Barrie Kosky’s work at Berlin’s Komische Oper. The new production by Teatro Verdi, once again under the expert direction of Andrea Binetti, will honour Trieste’s long-standing tradition with this title—performed in the city since the 1930s. Alongside the capable baton of conductor Ayrton Desimpelaere, the cast will feature rising mezzo-soprano Erica Zulikha Benato, already applauded in Trieste for her performance in Puccini’s Il Trittico; Andrea Binetti as Leopoldo; Cuban soprano Laura Ulloa; tenor Francesco Castoro; singer, actor and director Gualtiero Giorgini; actor and musician Alessio Colautti; and actress Marzia Postogna.
Performance in collaboration with the INTERNATIONAL OPERETTA ASSOCIATION as part of the 2025 OPERETTA FESTIVAL
PERFORMANCES: Saturday 19 July at 8:30 p.m., Sunday 20 July at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday 22 July at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: €25 to €45 – Under 34 discount: €15.
INFORMATION, RESERVATIONS AND TICKETS
Box Office of Teatro Verdi
Toll-free number: 800 898 868
Available also through the Vivaticket circuit