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| Warwick Fyfe (Geronio) - Stacey Alleaume (Fiorilla) - Paolo Bordogna (Selim) - Virgilio Marino (Narciso) in "The Turk in Italy |
By Gioachino Rossini
Conducted by Andrea Molino – Directed by Simon
PhillipsRevival directed by Andy Morton – Set and Costumes designed by Gabriela Tylesova
Lighting designed by Nick Schlieper - Presented by
Opera Australia
Joan Sutherland
Theatre, Sydney Opera House August 10 – September 1.
Performance August 10 reviewed by Bill Stephens
As you watch this production of “The Turk in Italy”,
you have to wonder why this opera, written when the composer was only 23, is so
rarely performed.
Though the music may not be as memorable as some of
Rossini’s other operas, it’s certainly attractive, especially when given the
sparkling performance it received on this occasion by the Opera Australia
Orchestra under Andrea Molino.
And the opera itself, as presented in Simon Phillips delightfully
irreverent production, carefully reproduced by revival director, Andy Morton,
with a dream cast who not only sing it superbly, but enthusiastically embrace
the innate silliness of the plot with stylish performances, proves side-splittingly
funny and immensely entertaining.
Phillips has taken the unlikely scenario involving two
pairs of lovers, a cuckolded husband a struggling poet in search of inspiration
for a farce he’s writing; moved the action to a sunny 1950’s seaside
town near Naples; has his poet, Prosdocimo,(Samuel Dundas) moonlighting as a waiter in a seaside café ,
owned by his bumbling employer Geronio,(Warwick Fyfe) whose beautiful flirtatious wife, Fiorilla,
(Stacey Alleaume), is intent on having a fling with a handsome randy Turk,
Selim, (Paolo Bordogna).
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| Graeme Macfarlane (Albazar) - Anna Dowsley- (Zaida) - Samuel Dundas (Prosdocimo) in "The Turk in Italy |
His designer, Gabriela Tylesova, has taken advantage
of the possibilities this setting offers to
devise an ingenious revolving sunny seaside café, complete with neon sign.
She’s costumed the cast in witty period
costumes which slyly reference the Italy
of Fellini’s “La Strada” for Anna
Dowsley’s gypsy girl, Zaida, and 50’s film star, Gina Lollobrigida for Stacey
Alleaume’s flirtatious, Fiorilla.
The chuckles begin with the overture, as the jaunty townsfolk
arrive to disport themselves on the beach in riotously clashing-coloured
beachwear. Deck-chairs, blow-up beds and barking dogs provide the perfect
ambiance for the frisky frolics which follow.
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| The Opera Australia chorus in "The Turk in Italy" |
Phillips’ saucy postcard surtitles elicit guffaws,
with Fiorilla describing herself as “fickle and a flirt fest”, while Selim, on
first seeing her, exclaims “What a honey. What a chick-a-babe”. Among several
funny set pieces, an interlude in which Selim and Zaida eject an endless stream
of gypsies from a tiny caravan for their tryst, and a fancy-dress ball at which
everyone turns up dressed as either Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe, while
“Love Me Tender” plays in the background, are highlights.
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| Paolo Bordogna (Selim) and the Opera Australia Chorus in "The Turk in Italy" |
Samuel Dundas is terrific as the waiter Prosdocimo,
artfully dodging knives, cocktail glasses or any other items thrown by quarrelling
lovers, while impressing with his cocktail bar waiter skills. Also at his cheeky
best playing the tumescent Turk, Selim, Paolo Bordogna flirts outrageously with
the audience, while wooing the willing Fiorilla, delightfully portrayed by
Stacey Alleaume. Not only does she look gorgeous and sing impressively,
Alleaume also holds her own in the comedy department, before stopping the show
with her glittering coloratura in Fiorilla’s final aria, “A Wretched Damsel
Brought Down By Fate”.
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| Anna Dowsley (Zaida) - Samuel Dundas (Prosdocimo) - Staceu Alleaume (Fiorilla) and The Opera Australia Chorus in "The Turk in Italy |
Fine comedic performances from Warwick Fyfe as Fiorilla’s
bumbling husband, Geronio, Anna Dowsley as Selim’s former lover, Zaida, and
Virgilio Marino and Graeme Macfarlane as Narciso and Albazar respectively, together
with inventive individual contributions from the excellent ensemble, insure
that those fortunate enough to experience this delicious soufflé leave the theatre
with a spring in their step and a smile on their face.
Photos by Keith Saunders
This review also appears in Australian Arts Review. www.artsreview.com.au