On the occasion of the centenary of its first performance, Turandot by Giacomo Puccini will be staged. Set in a fantasy China, the opera sees the contrast between the icy princess and the hero who tries to win her heart by tackling the three enigmas presented to him. Turandot è certainly one of the best-loved titles and, after Traviata in 2022 and La Bohème in 2024, it continues the trend of masterpieces entrusted to young directors selected through the directing call for under-35s.

Turandot is the last, enigmatic opera by Giacomo Puccini. Left unfinished at the composer's death in 1924, it was completed by Franco Alfano and made its debut at La Scala in Milan in 1926, in an atmosphere already charged with legend.
We are in a fairy-tale, cruel Peking. Princess Turandot, beautiful and inaccessible, has imposed a ruthless law: anyone wishing to marry her must solve three riddles. Whoever fails, dies. It is a challenge that has already doomed many men, but not the unknown prince Calaf, who arrives in town and, seeing Turandot, decides to try. Three enigmas. Three answers. Calaf wins. But Turandot does not give in. She cannot love. She does not want to belong. So Calaf raises the bar: he offers her a way out. If she discovers his name by dawn, she can have him executed. If she cannot, she will have to marry him. On this suspended night, the whole town is forced to keep vigil. It is here that one of the most famous arias of all time, Nessun dorma, is born: the song of trust, of challenge, of victory announced. Alongside the two protagonists moves Liù a fragile and profoundly human figure, capable of silent and absolute love. It is precisely her sacrifice that cracks Turandot’s armour, opening a chink towards a finale of transformation.
Musically, Turandot is grandiose and ultra-modern: it combines the imposing orchestra and grand choruses with refined exotic suggestions, creating a rich, luminous, cutting sound world. It is a work of contrasts: frost and passion, enigmas and revelations, cruelty and tenderness. A final masterpiece suspended between fable and tragedy. A work that does not just tell the story of love: it puts it to the test.