Opera Season 2014-2015
IL TURCO IN ITALIA
Daniele Rustioni directs a highly recognised cast of the bel canto
Director Christopher Alden debuts in Italy with a brilliant new staging
Teatro Regio, Thursday, 12th March 2015, 20:00
Thursday, 12th March the Teatro Regio presents a new production of Il turco in Italia by
Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Felice Romani. This score, among the gems of the Rossinian production
is back to our theatre after ten years. Daniele Rustioni conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the
Teatro Regio. The direction is by Christopher Alden. This new layout is a co-production with the
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, the Opéra de Dijon and the Teatr Wielki - The Polish National Opera in
Warsaw.
This new production is made possible with the support of Italgas, a company of the group
Snam and a founding member of the Teatro Regio. Italgas confirms its historical link to the city, which
has always been home to its headquarters, and to the Teatro Regio helping it promote and disseminate
culture as an engine of social development and a tool for opening dialogue within the territory.
The new setting offers the perfect cast to bring back the livelihood of this Rossinian comedy.
Selim, the illustrious Turk prince who comes ashore in Italy, will be Carlo Lepore, one of the best
Italian bass, his voice has quality, timbre and technique. Lepore, who debuted at the Regio with the
Turk, has since had a prestigious international career, crowned in 2012 with the worldwide broadcast
by Turin La Cenerentola, directed by Carlo Verdone.
The Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze, to debut at the Regio, will be Donna Fiorilla.
Machaidze came to international attention in 2008 when, at the Salzburg Festival, she replaced Anna
Netrebko. Since then she has had leading roles from the Italian bel canto repertoire, working with
conductors such as Chailly, Gatti, Mariotti, Dudamel.
The baritone Paolo Bordogna, who has already shown his great lyrical ability at the Regio, will
be Don Geronio. Bordogna, who has played all the three-baritone-roles of the Turk, is a specialist of
Rossini’s comic repertoire. This has enabled him to reach a deeper understanding of Rossini's comic
masterpiece; he is acclaimed by both the public and international critics.
The tenor Antonino Siragusa will be Don Narciso. He has taken part in the Regio’s latest
productions of Rossini and has become a reference for the Conte Almaviva, a role he has played in our
Theatre since 2000. He has a fresh and agile timbre, finding it easy when singing high notes; Siragusa is
recognized today as one of the best Rossini tenors. Applauded in all major international theatres, he has
worked alongside conductors such as Gergiev, Muti and Gatti, developing a unique style, praised by
critics and always appreciated by the audience.
The baritone Simone Del Savio, who played Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Regio, Adriana
Lecouvreur and Lucia di Lammermoor, will interpret Prosdocimo, probably the most innovative character
in the whole theatre of Rossini. De Savio, has a solid and clear timbre and can characterize his
performances with a fine theatrical taste, an essential quality when playing the role of Prosdocimo.
Completing the cast are the mezzo-soprano Samantha Korbey in the role of Zaida and the tenor Enrico
Iviglia playing Albazar. During the nine performances, from 12th to 22nd March, the title roles will
alternate with: Marco Vinco (Selim), Barbara Bargnesi (Donna Fiorilla), Marco Filippo Romano (Don
Geronio), Edgardo Rocha (Don Narciso) and Vincenzo Taormina (Prosdocimo). The new production
directed by Christopher Alden, features scenes by Andrew Liebermann, costumes by Kaye Voyce,
lighting by Adam Silverman reprised by Cecile Giovansili. Daniele Rustioni directs the Orchestra of
the Teatro Regio and Claudio Fenoglio directs the the Chorus of the Teatro Regio.
Il turco in Italia, performed for the first time just two hundred years ago at La Scala, has the
libretto by Felice Romani and follows the “Ottoman” fashion of the early nineteenth century. The story
kicks off with Selim, a Turkish prince, coming ashore in the Neapolitan coasts, who falls in love with
Fiorilla as soon as he arrives. Soon after, he meets Zaida, an old passion of his, by chance. By having
two suitors, Selim tries to save the situation. A profitable situation for Prosdocimo, a poet who was
going through a writer’s block but knew he had to write a “funny drama” and so, as he passed by, he
immediately found his inspiration. This character reveals the original dramatic structure of the opera,
to suggest - with a century in advance - the inventions of Pirandello. In the second act, we find the most
exhilarating peaks of opera, wisely emphasized by the brio of Rossini’s score: due to various disguises,
two Fiorille and two Selim appear on stage, a game of meta-theatre that will eventually be resolved in
the best ways: Fiorilla rejoins her husband and Selim returns to Turkey with Zaida. A small epilogue
closes the opera: Prosdocimo is pleased with the conclusion of his play and hopes that the public is too.
The young Daniele Rustioni, a thirty-two-year-old conductor, studied in Milan and London,
with great masters such as Muti, Noseda, Davis and Masur. He has already directed orchestras such as:
UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Teatro alla
Scala and Orchestra of the Teatro Regio. It was at the Regio where he began his path as a director in
2008, with La Bohème - a precocious but solid career crowned in 2013 by the prestigious Best Newcomer of
the Year awarded by the International Opera Awards.
Christopher Alden is in charge of the direction of this new production. He is a director with
extensive experience, whose works have been appreciated across the glove from the San Francisco
Opera to the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Alden, with this new production, debuts in Italy. His
interpretation respects the brilliant music of Rossini, but also proposes a new aspect: the loneliness of
the characters, without Prosdocimo as “deus ex machina”, they would be empty masks left to
themselves.
The opera will be presented to the public by the musicologist Alberto Bosco, within the cycle of
the Regio conferences at the Piccolo Regio Puccini on Wednesday, 11th March at 17:30. Admission is
free. The premiere will be broadcast live by Rai-Radio3 on Thursday 12th March at 20:00, broadcast
which is also inserted in the Euroradio circuit.
As usual, you can follow the backstage and discover entertaining curiosity about interpreters
and fittings, by watching the ‘Sketches of Passion’ of Paola Giunti. Go to our website
www.teatroregio.torino.it or our channel YouTube.com/TeatroRegioTorino. Tickets office: Teatro
Regio, Piazza Castello 215 - Tel. 011.8815.241 / 242. At Infopiemonte-TorinoCultura. At the Office of the
Teatro Stabile, online on www.vivaticket.it or by phone with a credit card by calling 011.8815.270. For
more information call: 011.8815.557. Follow the Teatro Regio on our social media:
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Turin, 18th February 2015
UFFICIO STAMPA
Teatro Regio, Direzione Comunicazione e Pubbliche Relazioni
Paola Giunti (Direttore), Sara Zago e Paolo Cascio (Relazioni con la Stampa)
Tel: +39 011.8815233/239 - [email protected] - [email protected]
[email protected] - [email protected] - www.teatroregio.torino.it