They say oysters are an aphrodisiac, but there’s nothing that is more guaranteed to make me a little frisky than the sight of a couple of hanging hams and a range of saucisson swaying pendulously from the ceiling. Clearly yours truly is not the only one to feel the erotic charge of an Italian delicatessen; the frisson is palpable in Act 2 of Mariame Clément’s production of Rossini’s Il turco in Italia, uproariously updated from its original setting of an inn to a deli of which Don Geronio is the cuckolded proprietor.
The production has become somewhat of a staple at Glyndebourne – as indeed has Clément herself – and it does a lot with one of Rossini’s most difficult plots. It’s delightfully meta, even if Act 1 can feel a little stodgy. It's where most of the more sophisticated humour lies, depicting that bleakest of foes a writer must face – the blank page. From there, the writing process is exposed in all its messy brilliance. As the plot begins to take shape, the characters grapple both with themselves and with their creator, the creative flow ever at risk of becoming a destructive torrent. It’s a production that hasn’t aged and under revival director Ian Rutherford still lands plenty of smiles, even if it is a tad niche.
Turco is a true ensemble opera and Glyndebourne has assembled a cast that throws itself into the merriment with gusto. Although she gets fewer gags, Fiorilla is at the heart of the opera and Elena Villalón delivered the vocal goods. Her soprano isn’t vast, but she projected well and showed a fine range, particularly in a deeply felt “Squallida veste”. It’s an instrument that can sound a little hard-edged, but the high notes were dispatched with flair and she had little issue with the coloratura. Peter Kálmán has chops in the buffa rep and brought natural swagger to the role of Selim. His bass-baritone has a substantial sound to it, with a dark timbre that gave flavour to every phrase. His burly, domineering presence contrasted well with the mousy Geronio of Rodion Pogossov. His baritone is on the lighter side and on occasion sounded slightly occluded, but he kept up with the patter and gave plenty of laughs as he haplessly navigated matrimonial strife.
Aytaj Shikhalizada brought a certain dignity to Zaida, showing a solid mezzo with plenty of heft and a focus on the text. As Narciso, Minghao Liu displayed a classic tenore di grazia – light and fresh, with an appealing gleam. It’s not a strong voice, and he would struggle in a larger venue; in this house, it carried well, though the very top notes, gamely reached, sounded slightly cloudy and at risk of strain. Matteo Mancini injected consistent energy to Prosdocimo, frantically bringing the writer’s ideas to life. His baritone is easy on the ear with an easy middle voice, but the lower register had a tendency to weaken to the detriment of his wider vocal performance.
Bertie Baigent was originally scheduled to conduct the London Philharmonic in a couple of the later performances, but is now taking on almost the entire run. He brought a strong sense of rhythm to the performance, but there were one or two points where a little more grip would have brought a sense of security and cohesion. On the whole though, a splendid performance.