The Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi 2008 opened last night with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's production of Padmâvatî, recently at Théâtre du Chatelet. There will be one more performance tomorrow, and the festival runs through July 13th.
"Indeed, Turandot was considered so suspect that when it was first performed in Beijing in 1995 the setting was changed to an unnamed location in Central Asia."
A new production of Turandot was performed from March 21-26 at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Hao Weiya wrote a new ending to Puccini's unfinished work and the production is to tour China and Europe later this year.
Amusingly, the name Turandot or Turandokht is Persian, meaning "Daughter of Turan." In turn, Turan means "the land of the Tur," and refers to Central Asia.
IHT Article | WSJ Article | NY Times Article | Official Site
Amusingly, the name Turandot or Turandokht is Persian, meaning "Daughter of Turan." In turn, Turan means "the land of the Tur," and refers to Central Asia.
IHT Article | WSJ Article | NY Times Article | Official Site
"I had to look it up," said Renée Fleming of the Central Asian country Kazakhstan in an interview with Manuela Hoelterhoff. (Apparently she didn't watch the terribly informative film Borat.) Fleming is singing an opera ball in Almaty this summer.
Padmâvatî opened last Friday at Théâtre du Châtelet.
In English: IHT | Times of India | Reuters India | The Telegraph
En Français: webthea.com | Le Monde | ResMusica.com | AFP
Théâtre du Châtelet is putting on Roussel's opera ballet Padmâvatî from March 14-24, 2008. Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who directed the films Saawariya, Devdas, and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the dancing will be choreographed by Tanusree Shankar.
The Telegraph Article | Production | SLB's Official Site | Shankar's Biography
Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles had its Sri Lankan premiere yesterday at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo. Benjamin Levy conducted Patricia Panton's production. The opera will be performed again tomorrow.
