Opera baby – IX edition
In the school year 2023/2024, and in commemoration of the centenary of the composer’s death, Opera Baby presents for its 9th edition the title role of Turandot, Giacomo Puccini’s opera reimagined and adapted for an audience aged 6 to 36 months in nursery schools.
One, two, three… Turandot!
Musical performance with two performers
Loosely inspired by Turandot by G. Puccini
Musical dramaturgy by Anna Pedrazzini
Directed by Sara Zanobbio
Set and costumes by Cantieri del Teatro – Como Produced by AsLiCo
First performance: Como Teatro Sociale on March 16, 2024
Duration of the performance: 40 minutes
The performance
What a great mountain of boxes! How many locks, strings, and padlocks… What could possibly be hidden behind there? One foot… two hands… three musical notes… one eye… two lips… three riddles to solve by dawn. Are you in there, Turandot? Calaf is looking for you. Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to come out?
1…2…3… Look at your wings, Turandot. Your cocoon is just a moment, a before, which will soon turn into a butterfly. Don’t be afraid.
Educational content
Turandot is an opera with a strong dramatic impact, complex in all its aspects, a long and dark night, as if dawn were never to come. Turandot herself is the creator of this environment, setting the rules and at the same time remaining imprisoned by them. Just like children love to do, Turandot has built her own den.
The problem is that our Turandot has no intention of leaving her den. She has sealed it tightly, stacked many boxes, and filled them with locks, strings, and padlocks. Inside, she feels safe, but what about outside? She feels free now, but what about later? Change, transformation, are things so mysterious that they make her “scared to death.” To explore this transition from before to after, similar to the transition from the nest to preschool, we will witness the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly, passing through the cocoon.
So, how will Turandot overcome this long night and become a beautiful butterfly? It’s fortunate that in this story, there is also Calaf: as stubborn as Turandot, a champion of riddles and puzzles, and capable, with his kindness and a bit of courage, of giving her the necessary time.”