“Who that gong will strike
will see her appear
white like jade
as cold as that sword
it's the beautiful Turandot! "
(Chorus, act I)
The Orchestra and Chorus of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, directed by maestro Antonio Pappano, present the Turandot, Giacomo Puccini's latest masterpiece.
The opera in three acts and five pictures in concert form, libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, left unfinished by Puccini and later completed by Franco Alfano, was performed for the first time at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1926 under the direction of Arturo Toscanini. The action, which takes place in Beijing in a mythical past, focuses on the figure of the beautiful and cruel Turandot, daughter of the Emperor of China, who tests her suitors by making them mercilessly killed unless they solve three mysterious puzzles proposed by herself. Only Calaf, son of the Tartar king Timur, succeeds in the enterprise, conquering Turandot's heart and thus transforming her from a cold and bloody person into a woman in love.
For the Turandot Puccini experimented significant musical innovations: in the opera we find dissonances, bitonalisms and harsh sounds; the motifs taken from traditional Chinese songs and the use of cymbals, gongs, bells, celesta, xylophones, timpani and horns also contribute to creating an exotic and oriental atmosphere. New for the time is also the importance given to choral scenes which required a rich and impressive orchestration.
The Auditorium version gives us all the beauty of Puccini's work in its entirety, thanks also to the extraordinary performers. Among these we remember: the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and Ermonela Jaho in the roles of Turandot and Liù respectively; tenor Jonas Kaufmann in the role of Calaf and bass Michele Pertusi in the role of Timur.
Photo credits: courtesy of the New Auditorium PDM official site
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