Zurich Opera House tickets 30 June 2024 - Turandot | GoComGo.com

Turandot

Zurich Opera House, Zurich, Switzerland
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Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Starts at: 19:30
Acts: 3
Cast
Performers
Soprano: Anna Pirozzi (Princess Turandot)
Choir: Additional choir of the Zurich Opera House
Bass: David Shipley (Timur)
Soprano: Elbenita Kajtazi (Liù)
Tenor: Martin Zysset (The Emperor Altoum)
Orchestra: Philharmonia Zürich
Tenor: Piero Pretti (Calaf)
Conductor: Robert Trevino
Choir: Zürich Opera Chorus
Creators
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Dramaturge: Carlo Gozzi
Librettist: Giuseppe Adami
Librettist: Renato Simoni
Director: Sebastian Baumgarten
Overview

Zurich Opera House presents this classic of the operatic repertoire in Sebastian Baumgarten's production, which has taken on the task of transferring the Chinese exoticism and the pomp of the set, which are inherent in the opera, into a contemporary form. For the two main roles of Turandot and Calaf, only the best in the business will do.

The cruel Chinese princess Turandot does not want to belong to any man. She poses unsolvable riddles to all the suitors who ask for her hand in marriage, and has them beheaded if they fail to answer. Until the one comes along who solves all the riddles... When Giacomo Puccini set about transforming the old Eastern fairy tale of Princess Turandot into an opera in the early 1920s, he wanted to break out of the tried and tested waters of his previous operatic successes – and once again create something new. With this material, he was able to leave behind the realism of his previous operas and write a piece that reaches into the grandly mythical. The exotic aura of the story offered him the opportunity to enrich his compositional style with completely new colors. But the project failed shortly before it reached its goal: Puccini could not find a believable resolution for the opera’s conclusion – that is, how to transform the ice-cold princess into a lover at the end of the story. He fell into a writing crisis, contracted throat cancer, and died before he could finish the opera's finale. What remained was a grandiose, contradictorily dazzling opera fragment.

History
Premiere of this production: 25 April 1926, Teatro alla Scala, Milan

Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, completed by Franco Alfano, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.

Venue Info

Zurich Opera House - Zurich
Location   Sechseläutenplatz 1

Zürich Opera House is a main opera house in Zürich and Switzerland. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zürich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. It is also home to the Zürich Ballet. The Opera House also holds concerts by its Philharmonia orchestra, matinees, Lieder evenings and events for children. The Zürich Opera Ball is organised every year in March, and is usually attended by prominent names.

The first permanent theatre, the Aktientheater, was built in 1834 and it became the focus of Richard Wagner’s activities during his period of exile from Germany.

The Aktientheater burnt down in 1890. The new Stadttheater Zürich (municipal theatre) was built by the Viennese architects Fellner & Helmer, who changed their previous design for the theatre in Wiesbaden only slightly. It was opened in 1891. It was the city's main performance space for drama, opera, and musical events until 1925, when it was renamed Opernhaus Zürich and a separate theatre for plays was built: The Bernhard Theater opened in 1941, in May 1981 the Esplanada building was demolished, and the present adjoint building opened on 27/28 December 1984 after three years of transition in the Kaufhaus building nearby Schanzengraben.

By the 1970s, the opera house was badly in need of major renovations; when some considered it not worth restoring, a new theatre was proposed for the site. However, between 1982 and 1984, rebuilding took place but not without huge local opposition which was expressed in street riots. The rebuilt theatre was inaugurated with Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and the world première of Rudolf Kelterborn’s Chekhov opera Der Kirschgarten.

As restored, the theatre is an ornate building with a neo-classical façade of white and grey stone adorned with busts of Weber, Wagner, and Mozart. Additionally, busts of Schiller, Shakespeare, and Goethe are to be found. The auditorium is built in the neo-rococo style and seats approximately 1200 people. During the refurbishment, the issue of sightlines was not adequately addressed. As a result, the theatre has a high number of seats with a limited view, or no view, of the stage. This is unusual in international comparison, where sightlines in historic opera houses have been typically enhanced over time.

Corporate archives and historical library collections are held at the music department of the Predigerkirche Zürich.

The Zürich Opera House is also home of the International Opera Studio (in German: Internationales Opernstudio IOS) which is a educational program for young singers and pianists. The studio was created in 1961 and has renowned artists currently teaching such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Hedwig Fassbender, Andreas Homocki, Rosemary Joshua, Adrian Kelly, Fabio Luisi, Jetske Mijnssen, Ann Murray, Eytan Pessen or Edith Wiens.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Starts at: 19:30
Acts: 3
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