A young colleague, Franco Alfano, finished composing the music for the opera as it is heard today. In the end, he died before the final scene was written. Turandot also has a mystique about it arising from the fact that Puccini was a perfectionist who argued with his librettists and did rewrites of sections and worked on this opera for years, perhaps struggled to bring it to a conclusion. The story also features a new prince, Calaf, arriving who becomes stricken by passion to marry Turandot and is willing to risk all, a pure-hearted servant girl, Liu, in love with the prince who makes sacrifices for him, and government ministers who deliver sage wisdom and sometimes comic relief, Ping, Pang, and Pong. The opera begins with the sad march of one of the failed suitors on his way to be put to death. If they fail, and many have at the point we enter, they forfeit their lives. Turandot is expected to marry, but she requires that a would be suitor answer three questions correctly to win her royal hand. It is, however, a grown-up fairy tale revolving around the redemption by love of an embittered, vengeful princess in legendary, ancient China.
Turandot is a fairy tale that lends itself to such designs. This opera represents an opportunity ripe for stage directors to not only work, but also to play, to exercise their creativity in colorful and exotic ways. Now, you have a chance in the next couple of weeks to see Turandot performed in Fairfax and Richmond by the Virginia Opera and in Pittsburgh by the Pittsburgh Opera. I sat in my seat unable to take it all in it was overwhelming. This production is nothing short of visual art. It starred the fabulous soprano Christine Goerke, and it was the Met’s Franco Zeffirerili production.
A few years later (2015), I saw T urandot performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. At that point opera stepped way ahead of pop and country in my time spent listening to music. My conversion to opera was sealed by hearing a recording on the radio of the great Birgit Nilsson singing Turandot. I have a weakness for Giacomo Puccini’s opera, Turandot.
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