Rossini's irresistible comic opera glows with Fellini-esque glamour in
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier's sun-drenched production.
Rossini
was just 22 when he wrote Il turco in Italia, his 13th opera and his
third for La Scala, Milan. The young composer clearly relished
librettist Felice Romani's outrageous farce, which serves up brazen
ridiculousness with cynical delight. But the heroine's wildly immoral
antics caused some consternation at the opera's premiere on 14 August
1814, and would play a part in Il turco's virtual disappearance from
Europe's stages later in the century. The opera wasn't seen again until
1950, in Luchino Visconti's La Scala production, which starred Maria
Callas as the incorrigible Fiorilla. The production's triumph secured
the opera's position as one of Rossini's most complex and uproarious
comedies.
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier's 2005 production –
the Royal Opera House's first – evokes the postwar era in which Il turco
was rediscovered. Rossini's acerbic absurdities become the ingredients
of a glamorous Fellini-esque comedy, set under the baking Neapolitan
sun. Bright colours, breathtaking slapstick and irrepressible energy are
the perfect accompaniment to Rossini's exhilarating bel canto music,
which includes an array of show-stopping arias, duets and the famous
quintet 'Oh! guardate che accidente'.
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier's sun-drenched production.
Rossini
was just 22 when he wrote Il turco in Italia, his 13th opera and his
third for La Scala, Milan. The young composer clearly relished
librettist Felice Romani's outrageous farce, which serves up brazen
ridiculousness with cynical delight. But the heroine's wildly immoral
antics caused some consternation at the opera's premiere on 14 August
1814, and would play a part in Il turco's virtual disappearance from
Europe's stages later in the century. The opera wasn't seen again until
1950, in Luchino Visconti's La Scala production, which starred Maria
Callas as the incorrigible Fiorilla. The production's triumph secured
the opera's position as one of Rossini's most complex and uproarious
comedies.
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier's 2005 production –
the Royal Opera House's first – evokes the postwar era in which Il turco
was rediscovered. Rossini's acerbic absurdities become the ingredients
of a glamorous Fellini-esque comedy, set under the baking Neapolitan
sun. Bright colours, breathtaking slapstick and irrepressible energy are
the perfect accompaniment to Rossini's exhilarating bel canto music,
which includes an array of show-stopping arias, duets and the famous
quintet 'Oh! guardate che accidente'.
