Turandot, that is “Nessun dorma” and fantasies of China, a man-eating dragon lady and a self-sacrificing slave, a romantic fairy-tale and a brutal reckoning, male projections of former times and a yearning for distant shores… and it is a much-beloved feature of opera programmes around the world.

Oliva Hyunsin Kim, composer in residence during the 2022/23 season, will return to Ballhof with her team. Based on Puccini’s Turandot, they will conduct a playful analysis of the opera scene and its repertoire: What exactly is wrong with this opera? And how could we tell this story and its scintillating music today?

This creative team loves to break open traditional material from the inside, focussing on the performative level of musical theatre: How does the representation change when the story is told with different bodies? What if gender-role images were of no importance? And: Does the whole thing really have to take place in a fictitious China?
Ping, Pang and Pong guide the audience into the glamorous world of drag, where possibilities abound, and nothing is set in stone: Will Princess Turandot really choose Prince Calaf in the end? Or the forbearing Liù? Or perhaps she will decide to remain alone?

The team around Olivia Hyunsin Kim approaches her very own Turandot with humour and devotion – without stripping the piece of its tragedy. With minimal orchestration, arranger Jacopo Salvatori conjures an impressive and innovative sound picture – including all the musical highlights, of course!

“Turandot is one of the strongest female characters in opera history. But at the end, she suddenly gives up and chooses love?! New times need new narratives! We want to question the piece and see what Turandot and the slave Liù might have to say in the 21st century. We will make Turandot sexy again!” (Olivia Hyunsin Kim)

Funded by the programme 360° – Fund for New City Cultures