Il turco in Italia

Gioachino Rossini’s dramma buffo Il turco in Italia, staged here by von Jan Philipp Gloger, is one of the funniest and most fast-paced productions in the Opernhaus Zürich's repertoire. The production really outdoes itself with fast-paced music, breakneck virtuoso arias, situational comedy and duplicitous directorial ideas. Gloger transfers this work from the genre of the so-called Turkish operas (which were very popular in Rossini's time) to the present day, and sets it in the narrow apartments, hallways, and entrances of a petty bourgeois tenement, built hyper-realistically on a revolving stage by set designer Ben Baur. In it, Gloger sparks an enigmatic game about genuine and feigned feelings and the omnipresent misunderstandings that arise in the clash of oriental and western-modern culture.

Of course, such raucous buffa fun only works if it is accompanied by a nimble orchestra and spirited vocal soloists. This is ensured in our current revival by Olga Peretyatko in the vocally highly demanding role of Fiorilla, Nahuel Di Pierro as the charmingly modern «Turk» Selim, and Rossini-tested character actors like Pietro Spagnoli and Renato Girolami. On the podium is the young Italian conductor Daniele Squeo.

On June 17, 2023 the official ticket sale for the season 23/24 starts. Friends, subscribers, and shareholders can take advantage of their advance purchase rights one week earlier.