sentence: roles evelyne valera soprano carla carlsen juliska varady soprano clara tabody seppl fraunhofer tenor armando cellini tenor franz kilian bass synopsis place and time the first part of the operetta ( scenes 1 -- 3 ) takes place in sanremo in italy and the second part ( scenes 4 -- 6 ) on the rio negro in argentina at the time of the premiere , that is , in the 1930s .