Florence, Turandot conducted by Zubin Mehta opens the 86th Maggio Musicale Festival – Connected to Opera

After the inaugural concert on 13 April, which saw the curtain rise on the86th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival in a sold out Mehta Hall, the opera program of the Festival begins, which – in the year that marks the 100th anniversary of the death of the great Giacomo Puccini – presents one of the most beloved works by the composer from Lucca, Turandot.
The opera, which Puccini had no opportunity to finish and which was finished by Franco Alfano, is on the podium of the Sala Grande on Sunday April 21st at 8 pm, at the helm of the Orchestra, the Choir and the Children’s Choir of the Accademia del Maggio, the director emeritus for life Zubin Mehta which, over the course of his career, he has delivered Turandot certainly one of the most significant works in his repertoire. Five performances in total, all already completely sold out in every seating order: 21, 24, 30 April And May 3 at 8 pm and on April 27 at 3.30pm.

The staging, by Maggio itself, is perhaps one of the shows that have most marked the recent operatic history of the Theater and is signed by the director – taken from Stefania Grazioli – Of Zhang Yimou, one of the most influential Chinese filmmakers of the last half century and three-time Oscar nominee. On stage, forming the vocal cast of the show, Olga Maslova And Eunhee May (performance of May 3) in the part of Princess Turandot; Seok Jong Baek And Ivan Magrì (performances on April 27 and 30) play Calaf; Valeria Sepe it’s Liù; Simon Lim is Timur while Carlo Bosi plays Altoum. Lodovico Filippo Ravizza, Lorenzo Martelli And Oronzo D’Urso are respectively Ping, Pang and Pong while Qianming Dou plays A Mandarin. The cast concludes with three artists from the Coro del Maggio: Davide Ciarrocchi in the role of The Little Prince of Persia, Thalida Marina Fogarasi And Anastassiya Kozhukharova like the two Handmaids of Turandot. She is also the protagonist of the Nuovo BallettO di ToscanA on stage.
The master of the May Choir is Lorenzo Fratini. The teacher of the children’s choir of the Accademia del Maggio is Sara Matteucci.

The first performance will be broadcast in live radio from Rai Radio3. In the foyer of the large hall of the Teatro del Maggio there is an exhibition dedicated to Giacomo Puccini and the staging of his works at the Maggio. Thanks to the Cerratelli Foundation, the original costumes will also be on display Turandot designed by Umberto Brunelleschi in 1940.

Further information: www.maggiofiorentino.com

Photo: Michele Monasta