Why isn’t this performed all the time?

A couple of big questions after seeing Il Turco in Italia at Glyndebourne. First, why isn’t this opera performed all the time? Second, can I live at Glyndebourne?

This was my first time at the Glyndebourne festival, and it was just disgustingly magical. I’ve always enjoyed Santa Fe as a summer opera festival, because it’s so completely aligned to its place: it wouldn’t make sense anywhere but an artsy town in New Mexico. Glyndebourne is similar: an intimate opera house on a gorgeous Sussex country estate where audience members wander around in tuxedos and formal dresses before eating picnics on the picturesque lawn during the extended 90-minute intermission. In case you’re wondering, it is exactly as bougie as it sounds. I took the train down from London and stepped into a country idyll as I watched the lambs romp before the show (seriously… the lambs were frolicking). The sun was shining, the heatwave had broken, and all was right with the world.

Then came the show. I’d never seen Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, so I assumed there must be some reason it’s not performed as often as his other work. Maybe the music isn’t catchy, or the story isn’t fun like The Barber of Seville? Nope! It’s fantastic — rollicking music and hijinks galore.

In the original staging, an author has writer’s block and meets some people who he uses as inspiration. The conceit of this production by director Mariame Clément is that everything happening is actually in the writer’s head, and he’s just playing with the characters. It worked so well that I find it difficult to imagine the opera done any other way. There’s a lighting projection on the stage where it looks like the author is mapping out his story, scratching out names, relationships, and settings. In one delightful sequence near the beginning, he scratches out “19th century” and replaces it with “1950s,” and the characters duly change clothes and hairstyles right there on stage.

Everything came together so beautifully: the sets, the costumes, the orchestra, and the singing. All the voices were fantastic, but the women stood out. Soprano Elena Villalón, a native Texan I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in the RBO’s Ariodante and Santa Fe’s Rigoletto, was delicious as the flirty Donna Fiorilla, and mezzo Aytaj Shikhalizada owned the stage as the sultry Zaida.

So, to answer the questions I started with: this opera should be performed widely (preferably with this exact production), and I apparently cannot live at Glyndebourne, but I might need to consider retirement in Sussex.

Opera: Il Turco in Italia
Composer: Gioachino Rossini
Venue: Glyndebourne Festival
Date: July 1, 2026
Link: https://www.glyndebourne.com/events/il-turco-in-italia/