'Turandot' in Manila: Maestro Vincenzo Grisostomi Travaglini

Oh, 2022. What a year it has truly been for live events and performing arts, with theaters finally opening their doors and the most outstanding performers doing what they do best onstage.

Fans of the opera, in particular, will be thrilled to know that Giacomo Puccini's final opera, Turandot, is one of the few more live shows to enjoy before the year ends. Making its return to Philippine shores, Turandot will be staged at the CCP Main Theatre with a gala on December 9 and a matinee on December 11. From the costumes, set designs, and lighting, to the music and the international and local talent set to bring the show to life—Turandot in Manila is all set to wow both Filipino and foreign audiences.

Leading the Creative Cast of the monumental opera in Manila is Italian Director Maestro Vincenzo Grisostomi Travaglini. The Maestro recently directed Donizetti’s L'Elisir d' Amore and Lucia di Lammermoor at the CCP in 2017 and 2020, respectively, together with Prince Ravivaddhana Monipong Sisowath as assistant director. Moreover, Maestro Vincenzo is also Turandot's set and costume designer.

Ahead of the weekend's spectacular shows, Metro.Style sat down with the Maestro to learn more about the upcoming staging of the monumental Puccini opera and what audiences are likely to expect.

Read our insightful, thoughtful conversation with the creative genius below:

Metro.Style: What is your vision for this staging of Turandot?

Maestro Vincenzo Grisostomi Travaglini: Enclosed in this music masterpiece is an infinite world of culture and humanity, and one must only have the ability to listen to and serve this music, not to want to be a protagonist for one's own ambition. Turandot is a complex opera, the last work of a genius such as Giacomo Puccini. Included in its music are all the anxieties of the new century, the twentieth century, restored through the filter of a fairy tale. Nothing is as it appears, as the music will be transformed into poetry. Puccini will not finish the work, which will be completed by Franco Alfano. Therefore, the message will remain incomplete, which is also a reason for fascination; the ending can be received by each of the audience according to his or her sensitivity.

Could you tell us about the lighting, visuals, and staging decisions that you had to take into consideration in bringing this to the Filipino stage?

Today we talk all too often about reinterpretation, and many directors seek original scenic solutions, which very often do not reflect the will of the author. I think this is wrong and many modern productions are more of a façade, outwardly superficial and do not reflect the truth of masterpieces such as Turandot. If one carefully studies the genesis of the work, the literary source and knows how to interpret what the composer wanted to express, there is no need to look elsewhere. The audience is universal, both in Italy and in the Philippines, if anything, being a guest in such a generous land has motivated my efforts.

What are the biggest challenges in mounting this production?

I have done many stagings of Turandot, and for each new proposal it is as if it were a first time. When I was asked to do this production in Manila, I spent entire nights thinking about how to restore this masterpiece by Giacomo Puccini, imagining its direction, sets and costumes. My memory went to different past experiences, yet at every moment the thought was looking for different solutions. Important was giving precise directions for the set design, costumes and props so that the excellent workshops and tailoring in the Philippines could accomplish what I was asking of them. Important is teamwork, full cooperation.

I communicated to the scenographer and the costume designer realizing in Manila what I wanted, asking them to interpret through their professionalism my project, because this Turandot has to be born in a totally original way, in a meeting between my experience and their sensitivity, so that we can communicate to the audience our emotions in a meeting of cultures. Turandot was composed in the early 1900s, set in a timeless imperial China, and we are in 2022 in Manila. Then there was the meeting with the director and the singing artists and everyone involved in this project. Every day my idea of the performance was taking shape, in a continuous exchange of give and take, exchange and emotion. That's it, that's the message I would like the audience to get, of a musical culture that is borderless and is always current, because it lives in the moment. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience because it is unique from the moment the curtain rises.

Some say that this is Puccini’s most “musically adventurous” opera, do you have thoughts on this?

The challenges of making an opera, even more so for Turandot are endless. Months, weeks, days, hours, every minute of concentration so that everything is accomplished with precision. Yet to the applause of the audience any difficulty is forgotten. I consider myself lucky to be able to work on a stage in Manila, in the service of music and for an international audience. It is wonderful!

Do you still recall the first time you watched Turandot?

I feel like I have known Turandot forever. I have memories, impressions that I can never forget. In the 1980s at the Arena in Verona with Ghena Dimitrova. The opening of the Teatro alla Scala on December 7, 1983 with the direction of the one who was among my most significant Maestri and who left in me indelible mark in all the works I have done on stage, Franco Zeffirelli.

Some say that this is Puccini’s most “musically adventurous” opera, do you have thoughts on this?

Puccini's output spans the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many musicologists have tried to define his compositional style through a genre. This is impossible. Each of Puccini's works represents a world apart; the world in those years was changing rapidly and with it the artistic discourse. Puccini seemed as if he wanted to chase different trends in order not to be considered outdated by the times, and always, in each duo work, he showed himself more modern than any other musician, up to Turandot. It has been said that Turandot is the most modern opera and that a century later no composer has been able to match it. Perhaps, it is the truth!

What do you want to communicate with your version of Turandot?

More than communicating, my task is to pass on my experience with responsibility by serving the public. This is not false modesty, but rather the awareness that my role is to coordinate the many professional skills essential for such a demanding job and not to disappoint those who have placed so much trust in me.

Turandot is a project by presenters Cultural Center of the Philippines, Filipinas Opera Society Foundation Inc., and Rustan Group of Companies, with the Italian Embassy as major sponsor.

Prices for the tickets of Turandot are as follows: 

Gala Night, December 9, 8:00 p.m. Orchestra Center (Php 6,000), Orchestra Sides (Php 5,000), Balcony I Center and Balcony I Sides (Php 2,500) 

Matinee, December 11, 3:00 p.m. Orchestra Center (Php 4,000), Orchestra Sides (Php 3,000), Balcony I Center and Balcony I Sides (Php 1,500) 

To inquire and purchase, contact any of the following: 

Lulu Casas 09175708301; lgcasas@rgoc.com.ph

Maricar Alamodin 09175384508; esalamodin@rgoc.com.ph

Rustan’s Customer Service:

Rustan’s Makati -  8813-3739 Loc 280

Rustan’s Shangrila - 8633-4636 Loc 400

Rustan’s Alabang - 8850-5592

Rustan’s Gateway - 8931-2460 

CCP Box Office 8832-3704 

Ticketworld  8891-9999 

SM Tickets 8470-2222; 0917-870-2222; customercare@smtickets.com