The Turk in Italy (Il Turco in Italia): Opera Review

Sparkling if not scintillating, the production of Il Turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy), which opened Saturday night at the LA Opera, will mark a welcome introduction to Gioacchino Rossini's seldom staged comedy of romantic intrigue for most of the local audience. Dynamically sung in particular by Nino Machaidze and Paolo Gavanelli and beautifully designed, this import from the Hamburg State Opera may not fully realize the dramma buffo's potential for boisterous character humor, but is amusing and flavorful enough to confirm the work as a worthy predecessor to the composer's The Barber of Seville, which followed less than two years later.