TURANDOT by G. PUCCINI is the new Castell de Peralada Festival production

The Castell de Peralada Festival turns 30 this year, and to celebrate the occasion, it has scheduled and produced for the first time the opera by Giacomo Puccini: Turandot. A legendary opera in the repertoire, of great stage complexity and vocal demands, and the last of the Italian composer's titles and one that we have been wanting to stage for some time.

This summer, Turandot will become part of the list of the festival's new productions, and of its opera legacy, being the third opera built in workshops in the Alt Empordà, joining the titles of Andrea Chénier by Giordano (2014) and Otello by Verdi (2015); two acclaimed productions that highlighted the festival's skill at production and construction in the realm of international opera, thanks to the contribution and firm conviction and passion for opera of the Suqué-Mateu family and the Peralada Group, and the support of the sponsors.

The stage at Peralada has played host to Le Villi, Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi (first and third part of Il Trittico), La Bohème, Tosca and Madame Butterfly. All of them great titles in the Puccini world, where passion and sensitivity are masterfully presented through music and great characters. Following the festival's passion for Puccini, stage director Mario Gas has been commissioned for a new production to mark the festival's 30th anniversary.  A Turandot with stage design by Paco Azorín that will feature, as always, great voices on the international opera scene.

It is no accident that Mario Gas has been commissioned to produce this, as he is an icon and a symbol of the Festival. The relationship between the director and Peralada is one of mutual admiration and close bonding over the years. This is why both are working on an exciting and ambitious project of great artistic quality for the summer.

The aim is to offer the audience an artistic project that does not fall into the trap of stereotyping but neither does it renounce the essence of the work or what the public expects: mythology, magic, sensuality and orientalism. A contemporary show but essentially Puccini, presented from the personal approach of the stage director. A stage direction that will seek to maintain respect for the story of Turandot as a stage piece, but that conveys new times to the audience and a more modern vision through stage design and directing.