Abstract:

Turandot, the renowned opera by Giacomo Puccini, which marks the centenary of his death in 1924, is a journey "outside oneself": the plot unfolds in an unfamiliar and almost fantastical world, where the encounter with the "stranger" generates the driving dynamism of the narrative. The artistic encounter, in the opera, with distant places and diverse cultures can become an opportunity to understand what is perceived as "distant" and "different," but also a moment for critical reflection on what appears as "one's own" and, for this reason alone, right.

Turandot is also a journey "within oneself": love, death, fear, and courage are some conditions characterizing human existence that every person (and even every child) encounters, experiences, and interprets throughout their life. Realizing that others also experience sensations, emotions, human conditions, and situations makes communication and sharing of these experiences possible, offering opportunities to seek meaning no longer in solitude. This is how it happens in art, and therefore, in the opera: the life of the character becomes the life of everyone, of each individual. On stage, humanity can test itself, imagine different scenarios for the same stories, can live and love fully, and suffer and die as many times as it wants, with the certainty of being able to start all over again once the performance is over.

Through the "Opera Education - Opera Domani" project, promoted by As.Li.Co. (Associazione Lirica Concertistica - Como) in collaboration with the Department of Education Sciences "Riccardo Massa" at the University of Milan-Bicocca, "Turandot" becomes the educational context in which to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate a school program for primary school children. By engaging in choral singing, reflecting on musical meanings, and actively participating in the opera, this program can facilitate inclusive educational processes through knowledge and experience.

From an educational, pedagogical, and didactic perspective, Turandot can, therefore, offer multiple opportunities for reflection on the themes of inclusion and multiculturalism, engaging various disciplines.

Keywords:

Inclusion, Multiculturalism, Opera at School, Turandot, Puccini.