At the Teatro Real in Madrid, director Laurent Pelly and conductor Giacomo Sagripanti get to grips with Gioachino Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy). The delightful opera buffa teeming with colourful characters is available from 9th June 7.30 pm.
Composed by Gioachino Rossini in 1814, Il Turco in Italia had long fallen into obscurity until it was eventually resurrected by Maria Callas, and is now one of the Italian composer’s most frequently performed works. The opera narrates the misadventures of Selim, a Turkish prince eager to discover new carnal pleasures in Italy.
Just outside Naples, he meets the coquettish and fickle Fiorilla, with whom he will fall in love. The ensuing fracas and outpouring of emotions will see Prosdocimo – a poet in search of inspiration for his new comedy – act as both spectator, commentator and… instigator.
Starring in this new production of Il Turco in Italia for the prestigious Teatro Real in Madrid are Alex Esposito (Selim), Lisette Oropesa (Fiorilla), Misha Kiria (Don Geronio), Edgardo Rocha (Don Narciso), Florian Sempey (Prosdocimo Poet), Paola Gardina (Zaida) and Pablo García-López (Albazar). The Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro Real, conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti and Andrés Máspero respectively, accompany this evolving vocal cast in a staging by Laurent Pelly.
