The NBR New Zealand Opera's Genesis Energy Spring Season of Puccini's Turandot is a stylish, dramatic and ground-breaking production.

Conceived for Welsh National Opera by Christopher Alden, one of America's foremost stage directors, this inventive interpretation of Turandot will take audiences on a remarkable emotional journey.The NBR New Zealand Opera's Genesis Energy Spring Season of Puccini's Turandot is a stylish, dramatic and ground-breaking production.

Conceived for Welsh National Opera by Christopher Alden, one of America's foremost stage directors, this inventive interpretation of Turandot will take audiences on a remarkable emotional journey.A compelling story and well-known aria

Turandot is one of the greatest, most widely performed operas in the world, containing some very beautiful and famous music - few opera arias are better known than "Nessun dorma".

The compelling story is taken from Persian legend: the icy Chinese princess Turandot refuses to let any man have her. Princes seek her out but she ensures their defeat by demanding that they answer three impossible riddles - on pain of death. All have failed and been executed until an exiled prince enters into a battle of wits with the unattainable princess, with results both shocking and thrilling.

Themes of cruelty and tyranny centrestage

General Director of The NBR New Zealand Opera, Aidan Lang, says "This production of Turandot strips away the cliches that surround the opera to give audiences a bold and dramatic production that looks seriously at real human issues and resonates with our 21st century perspective on totalitarian regimes.

"When Puccini wrote Turandot in 1920, China was in a state of huge social and political upheaval which the Western powers watched with increasing concern. Director Christopher Alden asks questions and treats death and execution seriously, so the themes of cruelty and tyranny are put at centre stage, rather than being merely an incidental context for the story.

"He's produced a genuinely contemporary production, using the inbuilt theatricality of opera in a highly creative manner."

Cast includes leading NZ and international singers

Heading the cast of leading New Zealand and international singers is New Zealand soprano Margaret Medlyn in the demanding title role.

Alongside her is an equally impressive line-up: Dongwon Shin (Calaf), Maria Costanza Nocentini (Liù), Grant Dickson (Timur), Phillip Rhodes (Ping), Adrian McEniery (Pang), Benjamin Fifita Makisi (Pong), Terry Barry (Emperor Altoum), Malcolm Ede (Mandarin).

Completing the cast list is Conductor Nicholas Braithwaite, the Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (Auckland), and Vector Wellington Orchestra (Wellington).

The creative team comprises Restage Director Roy Rallo, Assistant Director Steven Anthony Whiting, Designer Paul Steinberg, and Lighting Designer Heather Carson.

Produced in association with Welsh National Opera and sung in Italian with English surtitles, the Genesis Energy Spring Season of Turandot opens in Auckland on Thursday 20 September and in Wellington on Saturday 13 October.

Auckland Season
When: Thu 20 Sep, Sat 22 Sep, Thu 27 Sep, Sat 29 Sep (7.30pm); Tue 25 Sep (1pm)
Where: Aotea Centre, THE EDGE ®

Wellington Season
When: Sat 13 Oct, Thu 18 Oct, Sat 20 Oct (7.30pm); Tue 16 Oct (6pm)
Where: Westpac St James Theatre

Single Tickets: $49.50 to $159.50; Concessions available. Service fees apply.
Bookings: Ticketek outlets nationwide, ph 0800 TICKETEK (0800 842 538).
Bookings also at The NBR NZ Opera Box Office: ph (09) 379 4068 or (04) 499 8343.

27/7/07

Image: Scene from the Welsh National Opera production of Turandot, staged in 2004. © Brian Tarr