The Turk in Italy by Rossini, lør. 28 dec. 2019, Fra (2019/2020), Instrueret af Jan Philipp Gloger, Dirigent Antonino Fogliani, Opernhaus, Zurich, Switzerland

Il turco in Italia When a Turk comes to Italy, the married women roll their eyes in ecstasy, the rival lovers lose out and the husbands rage with jealousy. They're silly clichés. But that's what this dramma buffo per musica is about. The composer Gioachino Rossini plays with them, and quite consciously: he knows that he is dealing with the foreign woman seducer Selim, the enterprising young woman Fiorilla who is chained to the stove at home and the ridiculous, because far too old husband Geronio archetypes of Italian comedy on stage and enjoys the parodic exaggeration. You can tell by the fact that he introduced a poet to the plot, who is looking for a theatrical subject and repeatedly ironically comments on the successful and misguided punch lines of this simple but in the end cleverly knitted comedy throughout all scenes. In 1813 wasIl turco in Italia premiered in Milan. But not much has changed in terms of clichés when encountering foreign cultures: if a Turk comes to Italy or a foreigner to Switzerland, prejudices, commonplaces and misunderstandings are still not far away. Fast-paced music and breakneck virtuoso arias guarantee buffa fun. But of course it only works if it is kindled by spirited musicians and solo singers. In our revival, Rosa Feola, known in Zurich from many Verdi and Rossini performances, sings the part of Fiorilla, Kyle Ketelsen is the irresistible Turk Selim. Italian conductor Antonino Fogliani, who last season performed Rossini's Il barbiere di Sivigliawith the International Opera Studio, conducts the Zurich Philharmonia.