(c) Charles Duprat Turandot: Paris Opera
Paris, Opéra Bastille — Main Auditorium
About the Event
Turandot, the last opera by Giacomo Puccini, on the stage of the Opera Bastille with a mesmerising production by the great Robert Wilson.
To avenge one of her ancestors, Princess Turandot subjects every royal suitor to a cruel trial: anyone who fails to solve her three riddles will be beheaded. Yet the arrival of an unknown prince may finally awaken her heart to love…
Giacomo Puccini’s final opera – left unfinished when illness claimed him before he could complete the final duet – Turandot was premiered two years after his death, in 1926, at La Scala in Milan. In addition to his hallmark melodic inspiration, epitomized by the famous “Nessun dorma”, the composer instils an atmosphere evoking the legendary China of the tale.
Like Madama Butterfly, which he staged at the Opéra Bastille in 1993, Turandot is a perfect match for the stylised aesthetic of Robert Wilson, who died in 2025. His staging, offering images of striking beauty, is his last for the Paris Opera.
Cast / Production
Giacomo Puccini
Music (1858 ‐1924)
Giuseppe Adami
Libretto
Renato Simoni
Libretto
Eun Sun Kim
Conductor
Alessandro Di Stefano
Chorus master
Robert Wilson
Director, set and lighting design
Nicola Panzer
Co‐stage director
Stephanie Engeln
Set design
Jacques Reynaud
Costume design
Manu Halligan
Make‐up
John Torres
Lighting design
Tomek Jeziorski
Video
José Enrique Macián
Dramaturgy
Cast
Elza van den Heever
Turandot (27 Nov. 12 Dec.)
Anna Pirozzi
Turandot (15 27 Dec.)
Yusif Eyvazov
Calaf
Adriana Gonzalez
Liù (27 Nov. 12 Dec.)
Gabriella Reyes
Liù (15 27 Dec.)
Carlo Bosi
Altoum
Alexander Tsymbalyuk
Timur
Biagio Pizzuti
Ping
Bergsvein Toverud
Pang
Manase Latu
Pong
Christian Rodrigue Moungoungou
Un mandarino
Taesung Lee
Il Principe di Persia
Liliana Faraon
Due ancelle
Isabelle Wnorowska‐Pluchart
Due ancelle
The Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus
ADO / Paris Opera's Youth Choir
A coproduction with the Teatro Real, Madrid, the Lithuanian national Opera and Ballet, Vilnius, the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto, the Houston Grand Opera, Houston
Opéra Bastille
The Opèra Bastille was inaugurated in 1989 as a sister house to the Opèra Garnier. Both part of the National Opera of Paris, the Bastille was built with the aim of establishing an "affordable people's opera house". Located at the Place de la Bastille next to the magnificent July Column, the building has a distinctly futuristic look with its glass facade and steel design elements. The main auditorium seats up to 2,700 people, and primarily presents performances of opera, as well as occasional ballets and symphonic concerts . Two smaller stages host chamber music and recitals.
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini was an Italian opera composer of the late 19th century. He was considered one of the greatest composers of the Italian Opera, second only to Verdi. His early works were characterised by features of the traditional 19th century romantic Italian opera. Later, his style developed into the realistic verismo style, which inspired him to write his most famous masterpieces and became one of the leading exponents of the style. His most renowned works La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), all are popular operas played in the most prestigious venues of the classical world.
Address
Opéra Bastille, Place de la Bastille, Paris, France — Google Maps
