Rossini: Il Turco in Italia [2008] (NTSC) [DVD]

This Pesaro Rossini Festival production of Il Turco in Italia is far and away better than the one from Zurich, which I did not enjoy half as much. Here, the sets, the costumes, the chorus, the dancers, the cast, direction, you name it, are superior. The acting most of all sets it apart. This is actually theater and it makes the music even better.

Alessandra Marianelli's Fiorilla is beautifully sung and naturally acted. She manages to portray Fiorilla with great expression in every context. Andrea Concetti as her husband Geronio, is likewise expressive. The poet Prosdocimo, expertly played by Bruno Taddia, is part of the action here, not a distraction on the sidelines. Marco Vinco as Selim is great, too. The ensemble singing is terrific.

See this one; you will not be disappointed!

I will confess at the outset that Il Turco is not a work that I know as well as Italian Girl and Barber in spite of having three CD versions, the Callas, the Caballe and the Bartoli. If hardly the equal of Italian Girl it does have it's moments and the indifference it has received is manifestly unfair.

This is the second DVD from Pesaro that I have bought, the other the Italian Girl which I bought essentially for the Lindoro, the young Russian, Maxim Miranov. Early reviews of this set were not encouraging and most of the arrows were aimed at the director Dario Fo. I disliked the production; Fo apparently has never heard of the maxiim "less is more" and even though we are in a tiny theatre let no space go unfilled. In short the damn thing is so busy and cluttered as to distract from the artists. A stark contrast from the earliest Girl, emanating from Germany, also in a tiny theatre but using the space (or lack of it) much more wisely. Il Turco stands in stark contrast: a minimalist set with a raked rectangular playing area which does duty for the most part except when an interior is needed. Marco Vinco is the Turco in question; he was the Bey in Italian Girl and he is in the Opus Arte version of La Pietra del Paragone. In short a Rossini specialist, but not necessarily a voice of distinction. Why does Pesaro insist on idiotic immense turbans that are essentially unwearable? They must be glued on and presumtively "light" to remain on for such a long period of time. I only raise the issue since all the rest of the costumes are quite beautiful and correct in their period. Vinco is also saddled with a similar turban in Italian Girl.

Even with the above caveat as regards Vinco, he, Alessandra Marianelli and Bruno Taddia (the poet) have the major share of vocal honors as well as the lion's share of the music. There are two other tenors each with an aria; they are adequate, nothing more. Alas a Juan Diego Florez would be needed to sing them with appropriate flair. In general I would have to say that the audio version with Bartoli, conducted by Chailly is better sung, and I have not seen the Zurich DVD so will not make any invidious comparisons. There are to be sure many enchaning moments in this score, but there are not enough of them to put this work on a par with L'Italiana; it needs a more imaginative production and singers with more charisma. That said I adore the music and do not feel short changed in any way

The voices in this production are competent enough, but for me the production itself didn't work. As another reviewer noted, there was lots of background "business," but this kind of thing can be entertaining when handled well. Unfortunately, it didn't work here. In spite of all the clowning, I found the production tedious. The actors may have been trying too hard, and in fact sometimes they seemed to be uncomfortable with what they'd been asked to do by the director. I like the music of Il Turco, but in this production, I felt I had to struggle to find the music behind the forcing of the action.