Between 31 May and 12 of June They will be offered 10 functions from The turkish in Italy, from Gioachino Rossini, in a new production of Teatro Real which will premiere on its stage and will later be presented in the co-producing theaters: the Lyon Opera and the New National Theater Tokyo.
Laurent Pelly, great master of comedy and much loved by the audience at the Teatro Real –where he has directed Daughter of the Regiment (2014), Hansel and Gretel (2015), The Golden Cockerel (2017), Falstaff (2019) Y Long live the mother! (2021)–, transfers the plot of the opera to the melodramatic universe, predictable and sweet of the fotonovelas of the forties.
Fiorilla, clever and flirtatious protagonist of the opera, addicted to reading newsletters, Imagine a fast-paced love story brimming with eroticism, with a handsome and seductive Turk (Salim), who 'disembarks' in her life and gets her into a series of libidinous messes with the partners of both, in a continuous and juicy game of disguises, under which beat the great dilemmas of the soul.
The haughty and miserable poet Prosdocimo takes advantage of this wild comedy of tangles., that transforms it into the plot of his new work, but lose control over the characters, handled, actually, by Fiorilla, free woman, feminist and daring, singular in the lyrical repertoire of the 19th century, where tragic female figures and victims of a hostile fate triumph.
In fact, Turkish in Italy, thirteenth score in the operatic catalog of Gioachino Rossini (1762-1868) -and written before the great operas that consecrated it-, deserves to be claimed for the quality of its music and the modernity of the themes that underlie the formal structure of the libretto of Felice Romani (1788-1865): an author searches for his characters -in an antagonistic way to that of Louis Pirandello, a century later- catches them, manipulate and mix with them, but the indomitable protagonist steals the future of the story, using their freedom and letting themselves be carried away by the impulses of love, in which, like in Così fan tutte, lies the 'truth' in a world of conventions and disguises.
Laurent Pelly uses the formal and aesthetic codes of the soap opera as the narrative structure of the opera, in which burlesque scenes take place, dramatic, laughable or disturbing like the melodramatic and conventional stills of the women's magazines of the years 60, evoked in the scenery kitsch Y vintage from Chantal Thomas and in the costumes also designed by Pelly.
In Rossini's score, premiered at La Scala in 1814, the scenes follow one another in a fast-paced way, going from passionate to gloomy atmospheres, exalted to nostalgic, dramatic to burlesque. Everything flows in an opera in which cavatinas and ensemble numbers abound - duets, trio, quartet, quintet-. The brilliant and steely orchestration catches the characters to carry them in its musical torrent, in which the beautiful and virtuous singing lines of the protagonists stand out, especially in moments of intimacy and introspection.
A double cast of excellent voices and essential acting skills will give life to the fun characters of the opera: las sopranos Lisette Oropesa, Sara Blanch Y Sabina Puértolas (Fiorilla), the short ones Alex Esposito Y Adrian Sampetrean (Selim), las sopranos Paola Gardina Y Chiara Amarù (Zaida), baritones Misha Kiria Y Pietro Spagnoli (Don Geronio), Florian Sempey Y Olivieri Mattia (poeta Prosdocimo), and tenors Edgardo Rocha Y Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani (Don Narciso) Y Pablo Garcia-Lopez (Albazar).
Giacomo Sagripanti will debut in front of Headlines Choir and Orchestra of the Teatro Real, also playing the fortepiano (percussed string instrument, predecessor of the piano, in vogue in the first half of the 19th century) the recitatives.
The turkish in Italy will be presented for the first time at the renovated Teatro Real, in a poetic production, burlesque and nostalgic, in which laughter, the impudence and pathos of comedy hide the deepest feelings and passions of the soul.
Photographer: © Javier del Real | Teatro Real
AGENDA | PARALLEL ACTIVITIES
25 of May, to 20.15 hours | Teatro Real, Sala Gayarre
approaches: with Giacomo Sagripanti (musical director of The turkish in Italy), Laurent Pelly (stage-manager
from The turkish in Italy), Joan Matabosch (artistic director of the Teatro Real) and John Lucas (musicologist)
involved: Pablo Garcia-Lopez (tenor), Susana Garcia (soprano) and Riccardo Bini (piano)
31 of May - 31 October | Teatro Real
Exhibition of concert costumes by Teresa Berganza
Exhibition with nine concert costumes by Teresa Berganza, that will remember the great mezzo-soprano on the first anniversary of her death.
9 of June, to 19.30 hours | Art Channel
Live broadcast of The turkish in Italy
11 of June, to 12.00 hours | Teatro Real, Living room
Chamber Sundays: soloists of the Royal Theater Orchestra
June | Italian Institute of Culture of Madrid
Meeting: The metatheater in Italian opera and dramaturgy
June | SGAE Foundation
Film Series: The narrator on stage
16 May to 15 of June | Museum of Romanticism
Microexhibition and guided tour
Microexhibition of a visiting card signed by Rossini and a biography of María Malibrán, which premiered said opera in the United States. Guided tours will delve into the life of this singer and her family.
Hours on the Museum website.
8 of July | Cerralbo Museum
Concert: Birthday concert of the XVII Marquis of Cerralbo, with a repertoire of the time inspired by his travels through Italy and Türkiye