TURNING TURANDOT

We will make Turandot sexy again!

PREMIERE 4.11.2023

FURTHER DATES 9.11, 12.11, 18.11, 29.11, 1.12, 7.12 , 12.12.2023

Turandot, that is “Nessun dorma” and fantasies of China, a man-eating dragon lady and a self-sacrificing slave, a romantic fairy-tale and a brutal reckoning, male projections of former times and a yearning for distant shores… and it is a much-beloved feature of opera programmes around the world.

Oliva Hyunsin Kim, composer in residence during the 2022/23 season, will return to Ballhof with her team. Based on Puccini’s Turandot, they will conduct a playful analysis of the opera scene and its repertoire: What exactly is wrong with this opera? And how could we tell this story and its scintillating music today?

The team around Olivia Hyunsin Kim approaches her very own Turandot with humour and devotion – without stripping the piece of its tragedy. With minimal orchestration, arranger Jacopo Salvatori conjures an impressive and innovative sound picture – including all the musical highlights, of course!

“Turandot is one of the strongest female characters in opera history. But at the end, she suddenly gives up and chooses love?! New times need new narratives! We want to question the piece and see what Turandot and the slave Liù might have to say in the 21st century. We will make Turandot sexy again!” (Olivia Hyunsin Kim)

Funded by the programme 360° – Fund for New City Cultures

CREDITS

Direction and Choreography: OLIVIA HYUNSIN KIM

Stage Design: EVA G. ALONSO

Costume Design: MASCHA MIHOA BISCHOFF

Video Design: JONES SEITZ

Musical Director: RICHARD SCHWENNICKE

Licht: MARIO WALDOWSKI

Dramaturgie: KATHARIA SCHELLENBERG

Regieassistentin: GIULIA FORNASSIER

Xchange: SIIRI NIITTYMAA

Turandot: SEUNGWOO SUN

Calaf: MENGQI ZHANG

Liù: PAWEL BROZEK

Ping: LUVUYO MBUNDU

Pang: LLUíS CALVET i PEY

Pong / Timur: CARMEN FUGGIS

Bewegungschor der Staatsoper Hannover, Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover