Turandot

A street in Shanghai, its walls covered in neon, in the sweltering heat of a tropical night. For Puccini’s Turandot, Emmanuelle Bastet takes inspiration from contemporary China and reflects on manipulation in modern society.

The crowd gathers to witness the execution of the Prince of Persia, who has failed to pass the test imposed by Turandot, daughter of the emperor of China. "Cold as a blade", she has vowed to refuse marriage, in revenge for the assassination of her ancestor by a foreign prince. For this unfinished opera, with its strong exotic connotations, the composer Franco Alfano completed the last two scenes, presented here – the staging highlights the versatility of the people, both victim and instigator of constant violence, manipulated by the cruelty of power in a society under constant surveillance. Is Turandot real, or does she inhabit the virtual world in which the image enslaves?

Music Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Giuseppe Adami & Renato Simoni based on the play by Carlo Gozzi

Musical director Domingo Hindoyan
Stage director Emmanuelle Bastet

Dijon Bourgogne Orchestra
Dijon Opera Choir
Rhine National Opera Choir
Maîtrise de Dijon

Scenography Tim Northam
Lighting François Thouret
Costumes Véronique Seymat
Video Éric Duranteau

Turandot Catherine Foster
Liù Adriana González
Calaf Kristian Benedikt
Timur Mischa Schelomianski
Altoum Raul Gimenez
Ping Pierre Doyen
Pang Gregory Bonfatti
Pong Éric Huchet

^{Coproduction Rhine National Opera, Dijon Opera}

^{Illustration © Lorenzo Mattotti}