Director's Notes

Il Paese dei Campanelli, together with Cin-Ci-Là, is certainly the most famous Italian operetta. Still alive and kicking, this work by the Ranzato-Lombardo duo binds its success to the particular lightness and cheerfulness of the text, combined with the easy melodies and immediate impact. It is said that, the day after the first performance at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, many of the songs were sung or whistled in the streets by the Milanese.

An imaginative plot with a touch of exoticism, a colourful and imaginary fairy-tale village, the colourful costumes of the protagonists and an elegant and polite dramaturgy are the strong points of this centenary edition. The story takes us to an imaginary Dutch island where above every house there is a small bell tower with a bell. According to legend, these bells ring every time a betrayal occurs and a ship of sailors arrives to sow disorder in the peaceful Country of Bells. In 100 years, everything has changed and nothing has changed: the dilemma between conjugal and extra-marital love is eternal, the misunderstandings of a healthy comedy that entertain the audience without malice are always the same, from Plautus onwards.
Cent’years ago it was the bells that rang; today it is the mobile phones!       
Have fun!

Corrado Abbati