Il turco in Italia

Dramma buffo in two acts
Libretto: Felice Romani
World premiere: 14 August, 1814, Milan
Premiere of the production: 22 July 2014, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
Coproduced with: Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Teatro Regio di Torino, Opéra de Dijon
On the original Italian with Polish surtitles 

Romantic irony? A flight from realism? This is what Felice Romani – the librettist of Rossini’s opera – seems to have enjoyed the most. Meanwhile, the director of the staging prepared for Teatr Wielki, Christopher Alden, does not hide his fascination with the present day, and often refers to current political events in his productions. What could result from such an intriguing combination? In an ambiguous, temporary space, as if a rehearsal studio created by the designer Andrew Lieberman, we meet the characters wearing well-tailored suits and dresses from the fifties. There is a diva and her husband. This is also the second lady and the eponymous Turk they fight for. This is not, however, a naturalistic tale of marital betrayal. 'We think we understand each other, but we never really do,' says one Six Characters in Search of an Author by Pirandello. It is his spirit that floats over this perverse staging. Inspired by his work, the director mixes what is real with what is symbolic, as if he was playing with the viewer, alternatively leading him along the path of fiction and reality. It is as if we found ourselves at times in the world of ideas created by the Poet, and at times in the world of fates that the Poet is merely observing. Alden’s staging, beautiful and dynamic in its pace, and the excellent sound of the orchestra conducted by Andriy Yurkevych, are a praise of levity and ambiguity.

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera