Turandot Totally Explained

Everything about Turandot totally explained

Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. The text is based on Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play Turandot by Carlo Gozzi. Turandot was unfinished by the time of Puccini's death, and was later completed by Franco Alfano. The first performance was held at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 25 April 1926, and conducted by Arturo Toscanini. This performance included only Puccini's music and not Alfano's additions.

Origin of Name

Turandot is a Persian word and name meaning "the daughter of Turan", Turan being a region of Central Asia which used to be part of the Persian Empire. In Persian, the fairy tale is known as Turandokht, with "dokht" being a contraction for dokhtar (meaning daughter), and both the "kh" and "t" are clearly pronounced. However, according to Puccini scholar Patrick Vincent Casali, the final "t" should not be sounded in the pronunciation of the opera's name or when referring to the title character, as Puccini never pronounced it (according to Rosa Raisa, the first singer to play the title role) and, as Casali notes, the musical setting of many of Calaf's intonations of the name makes sounding the final "t" all but impossible.

History

The story of Turandot was taken from the Persian collection of stories called The Book of One Thousand and One Days (not to be confused with its sister work The Book of One Thousand and One Nights) or Hezar o-yek shab (1722 French translation Les Mille et un jours by Francois Petis de la Croix), where the character of "Turandokht" as a cold Chinese princess was found. But this story about a Chinese princess bears much resemblance to Persian poet Nizami's story about a Russian princess being pursued by the Sassanid king Behram. The story of Turandokht is one of the best known from de la Croix's translation.The plot respects the classical unities of time, space and action. Puccini first began working on Turandot in March 1920 after meeting with librettists Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. He began composition in January 1921. By March 1924 he'd completed the opera up to the final duet. However, he was unsatisfied with the text of the final duet, and didn't continue until October 8, when he chose Adami's fourth version of the duet text. On October 10 he was diagnosed with throat cancer and some weeks later went to Brussels, Belgium for treatment. There he underwent surgery on November 24, but died of complications on November 29 1924.
   He left behind 36 pages of sketches on 23 sheets for the end of Turandot, together with instructions that Riccardo Zandonai should finish the opera. Puccini's son Tonio objected, and eventually Franco Alfano was chosen to flesh out the sketches. Alfano provided a first version of the ending with a few passages of his own, and even a few sentences added to the libretto which wasn't considered complete even by Puccini himself. After the severe criticisms by editor Ricordi and the conductor Arturo Toscanini, he was forced to write a second, strictly censored version that followed Puccini's sketches more closely, to the point where he didn't set some of Adami's text to music because Puccini hadn't indicated how he wanted it to sound. Ricordi's real concern wasn't the quality of Alfano's work, but that he wanted the end of Turandot to sound as if it had been written by Puccini, and Alfano's editing had to be seamless.
   The debate over which version of the ending is better is still open, (see say 'The Final Problem' in Ashbrook & Powers, ref.6) but the consensus generally tends towards Alfano's first score. Scrutiny of the sketches, which Ricordi later allowed scholars to analyze (and sometimes publish), showed how Alfano actually didn't even try to use most of the short sketches on the sheets, with the exception of those with an obvious placement and one short theme he freely transformed, and used for the sake of stylistic continuity. From 1976 to 1988 the American composer Janet Maguire, convinced that the whole ending is coded in the sketches left by Puccini, composed a new ending, but this has never been performed. In 2001 Luciano Berio made a new official completion, but this has received a mixed reception.
   The première of Turandot was at La Scala, Milan, on Sunday April 25 1926, 1 year and 5 months after Puccini's death. It was conducted by Arturo Toscanini.
   In the middle of Act III, two measures after the words "Liù, poesia!", the orchestra rested. Toscanini stopped and laid down his baton. He turned to the audience and announced: "Qui finisce l'opera, perché a questo punto il maestro è morto" ("Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died"). The curtain was lowered slowly. (As discussed in ref 6, the music for Liu's death wasn't in fact Puccini's final composition, but had been orchestrated some 9 months earlier). Later performances included Alfano's ending. Despite this, Turandot is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire and it appears as number twelve on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America. For many years, the Government of the People's Republic of China forbade performance of Turandot because they said it portrayed China and the Chinese unfavorably. In the late 1990s they relented, and in September 1998 the opera was performed for eight nights at the Forbidden City, complete with opulent sets and soldiers from the People's Liberation Army as extras. It was an international collaboration, with director Zhang Yimou as choreographer and Zubin Mehta as conductor. The singing roles saw Giovanna Casolla as Princess Turandot, Sergej Larin as Calàf, and Barbara Frittoli as Liù.
   As with Madama Butterfly, Puccini strove for a semblance of Asian authenticity (at least to western ears) by using music from the region in question. Up to eight of the themes used in Turandot appear to be based on traditional Chinese music, and the melody of a Chinese song named "Mò Li Hūa (茉莉花)", or "Jasmine", is included and repeated. (see ch 4 of Ref. 9, Ashbrook & Powers).

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, April 25, 1926 (Conductor: Arturo Toscanini)
Princess Turandot	soprano	Rosa Raisa
The Emperor Altoum, her father	tenor	Francesco Dominici
Timur, the deposed King of Tartary	bass	Carlo Walter
The Unknown Prince (Calàf), his son	tenor	Miguel Fleta
Liù, a slave girl	soprano	Maria Zamboni
Ping, Lord Chancellor	baritone	Giacomo Rimini
Pang, Majordomo	tenor	Emilio Venturini
Pong, Chief of the Imperial Kitchen	tenor	Giuseppe Nessi
A Mandarin	baritone	Aristide Baracchi
The Prince of Persia	tenor	Not named in the original program
The Executioner (Pu-Tin-Pao)	silent	Not named in the original program
Imperial guards, the executioner's men, boys, priests, mandarins, dignitaries, eight wise men, Turandot's handmaids, soldiers, standard-bearers, musicians, ghosts of suitors, crowd

Synopsis

� Place: Peking, China

Time: Legendary times

Act 1

In front of the imperial palace. A Mandarin announces the law of the land (Popolo di Pekino! - "Any man who desires to wed Turandot must first answer her three riddles. If he fails, he'll be beheaded" ). The Prince of Persia has failed and is to be beheaded at moonrise. As the crowd surges towards the gates of the palace, the imperial guards brutally repulse them, a blind old man is pushed to the ground. His slave-girl, Liù, cries for help. A young man hears her cry and recognizes the old man as his long-lost father, Timur, the deposed king of Tartary. The young Prince of Tartary is overjoyed seeing his father alive but urges him not to speak his name because he fears the Chinese rulers who have conquered Tartary. Timur tells his son that of all his servants, only Liù has remained faithful to him. When the Prince asks her why, she tells him that once, long ago in the palace, he smiled upon her (The crowd, Liù, Prince of Tartary, Timur: Indietro, cani! ).
   The moon rises, and the crowd's cries for blood turn into silence. The doomed Prince of Persia is led before the crowd on his way to execution. The young Prince is so handsome that the crowd and the Prince of Tartary are moved to compassion and call on Turandot to spare his life (The crowd, Prince of Tartary : O giovinetto! ). She appears, and with a single imperious gesture orders the execution to continue. The Prince of Tartary, who has never seen Turandot before, falls immediately in love. As he cries out her name with joy, the crowd screams in horror: The Prince of Persia has been beheaded.
   The Prince of Tartary is dazzled by Turandot's beauty. He is about to rush towards the gong and strike it three times; the symbolic gesture of whoever wishes to marry Turandot when the ministers Ping, Pong, and Pang appear and urge him cynically (Fermo, che fai? ) not to lose his head for Turandot but to go back to his own country. Timur urges his son to desist, and Liù, who is secretly in love with the Prince, pleads with him in her acclaimed (Signore, ascolta! ) not to attempt the riddles. Liu's words touch his heart. The Prince tells Liu to make exile more bearable and never to abandon his father if the Prince fails to answer the riddles (Non piangere, Liù - "Don't cry, Liù" ) . The three ministers, Timur and Liù try one last time to hold the Prince (Ah! Per l'ultima volta! ) but he refuses to listen.
   He utters Turandot's name three times and rushes to the gong that hangs in front of the palace. He strikes the gong three times declaring himself a suitor. From the palace balcony, Turandot accepts the challenge, as Ping, Pang and Pong laugh at the prince's foolishness.

Act 2

Scene 1: A pavilion in the imperial palace. Before sunrise. Ping, Pang, and Pong lament their place as ministers, poring over palace documents and presiding over endless rituals. They prepare themselves for either a wedding or a funeral (Ping, Pang, Pong: Ola, Pang! ) . Ping suddenly longs for his country house in Honan, with its small lake surrounded by bamboo. Pong remembers his grove of forests near Tsiang, and Pang recalls his gardens near Kiu. The three share fond memories of life away from the palace (Ping, Pang, Pong: Ho una casa nell'Honan ) but are shaken back to the realities of Turandot's bloody reign. They continually accompany young men to death and recall their ghastly fate. As the palace trumpet sounds, the ministers ready themselves for another spectacle as they await the entrance of the Emperor. Scene 2: The courtyard of the palace. Sunrise. The Emperor Altoum, father of Turandot, sits on his grand throne in his palace. He urges the Prince to withdraw his challenge but the Prince refuses (Altoum, the Prince: Un giuramento atroce ). Turandot enters and explains (In questa reggia ) that her ancestor of millennia past, Princess Lo-u-Ling, was ravished and murdered by a foreigner, and now out of revenge she's sworn never to let any man possess her. She warns the Prince to withdraw, but again he refuses. The Princess presents her first riddle (Straniero, ascolta! ) "What is born each night and dies each dawn?" The Prince correctly replies, "Hope."
The Princess, unnerved, presents her second riddle (Guizza al pari di fiamma ) "What flickers red and warm like a flame, but isn't fire?" The Prince thinks for a moment before replying, "Blood". Turandot is shaken. The crowd cheers the Prince, provoking Turandot's anger. She presents her third riddle (Gelo che ti da foco ) "What is like ice, but burns like fire?" As the prince thinks, Turandot taunts him. Suddenly he cries out victory and announces, "Turandot!"
The crowd cheers for the triumphant Prince. Turandot throws herself at her father's feet and pleads with him not to leave her to the Prince's mercy. The Emperor insists that an oath is sacred, and it's Turandot's duty to wed the Prince (Turandot, Altoum, the Prince: Figlio del cielo ). As she cries out in anger, the Prince stops her, saying that he's a proposal for her. "You don't know my name. Bring me my name before sunrise, and at sunrise, I'll die" (Tre enigmi m'hai proposto ). Turandot accepts. The Emperor declares that he hopes to call the Prince his son come sunrise.

Act 3

Scene 1: The palace gardens. Night. In the distance, heralds call out Turandot's command (Cosi comanda Turandot - "This night, none shall sleep in Peking! The penalty for all will be death if the Prince's name isn't discovered by morning" ). The Prince waits for dawn and anticipates his victory by singing "Nobody shall sleep!... Nobody shall sleep! Even you, O Princess" (Nessun dorma ).
Ping, Pong, and Pang appear and offer the Prince women and riches if he'll only give up Turandot (Tu che guardi le stelle ), but he refuses. A group of soldiers then drag in Timur and Liù. They have been seen speaking to the Prince, so they must know his name. Turandot enters and orders Timur and Liù to speak. The Prince feigns ignorance, saying they know nothing. Liù declares that she alone knows the Prince's name, but she won't reveal it. Ping demands the Prince's name, and when she refuses, she's tortured. Turandot is clearly taken by Liù's resolve and asks her who put so much strength in her heart. Liù answers "Princess, Love!". Turandot demands that Ping tear the Prince's name from Liù, and he orders her to be tortured. Liù counters Turandot (Tu che di gel sei cinta ), saying that she too shall learn love. Having spoken, Liù seizes a dagger from a soldier's belt and stabs herself. As she staggers towards the Prince and falls dead, the crowd screams for her to speak the Prince's name. Since Timur is blind, he must be told about Liù's death, and he cries out in anguish. Timur warns that the gods will be offended by this outrage, and the crowd is subdued with shame and fear. The grieving Timur and the crowd follow Liù's body as it's carried away. Everybody departs leaving the Prince and Turandot. He reproaches Turandot for her cruelty (The Prince, Turandot: Principessa di morte ) and then takes her in his arms and kisses her in spite of her resistance. Here Puccini's work ends. The remainder of the music was completed by Franco Alfano.
The Prince tries to convince Turandot to love him. At first she's disgusted, but after he kisses her, she feels herself turning towards passion. She asks him to ask for nothing more but leave, taking his mystery with him. The Prince however, reveals his name, "Calàf, son of Timur" and places his life in Turandot's hand. She can now destroy him if she wants (Turandot, Calàf: Del primo pianto ). Scene 2: The courtyard of the palace. Dawn. Turandot and Calàf approach the Emperor's throne. She declares that she knows the Prince's name: "It is ... love!" (Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore! ). The crowd cheers and acclaims the two lovers (O sole! Vita! Eternita ).

Critical Response

Whilst long recognised as the most tonally adventurous of his operas, Turandot has also been considered as at best a flawed masterpiece, and some critics have been unreservedly hostile. Thus Joseph Kerman is reported as saying "Nobody would deny that dramatic potential can be found in this tale. Puccini, however, didn't find it; his music does nothing to rationalize the legend or illuminate the characters... ." and he apparently considered the opera as a whole "depraved".
Some of this criticism is possibly due to the standard Alfano ending (Alfano II), in which Liu's death is followed almost immediately by Calaf's 'rough wooing' of Turandot, and the 'bombastic' end to the opera. The Berio version is considered to overcome some of these criticisms, but critics such as Tanner have failed to be wholly convinced by the new ending, noting that the criticism by the Puccini advocate Julian Budden still applies: "Nothing in the text of the final duet suggests that Calaf's love for Turandot amounts to anything more than a physical obsession: nor can the ingenuities of Simoni and Adami's text for 'Del primo pianto' convince us that the Princess's submission is any less hormonal." Ashbrook & Powers consider it was an appreciation of this problem (which they state as an inadequate buildup for Turandot's change of heart combined with an overly successful treatment of the secondary character' (by which they mean Liu )) which contributed to Puccini's inability to complete the opera.

Instrumentation

Instrumentation for Turandot is:
Woodwinds:

3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo)

2 oboes

English horn

2 B-flat clarinets

B-flat bass clarinet

2 bassoons

double bassoon Brass:

4 horns

3 trumpets

3 trombones

contrabass trombone Percussion:

cymbal

Chinese gong

timpani

triangle

snare drum

bass drum

tam tam Other

glockenspiel

xylophone

bass xylophone

tubular bells

celesta

2 harps

organ

strings Stage orchestra

E-flat alto saxophones

B-flat trumpets

trombones

bass trombones

wood block

large gong.

Selected recordings

Year	Cast (Turandot, Calàf, Liù, Timur)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1938	Gina Cigna, Francesco Merli, Magda Olivero, Luciano Neroni	Franco Ghione, Chorus and Orchestra RAI, Turin	Audio CD: Naxos Cat: 8.110193-94
1959	Birgit Nilsson, Jussi Bjorling, Renata Tebaldi, Giorgio Tozzi	Erich Leinsdorf, Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra	Audio CD: RCA Victor Cat: 09026626872
1966	Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli, Renata Scotto, Bonaldo Giaiotti	Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus	Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 077776932729
1972	Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballé, Nicolai Ghiaurov	Zubin Mehta, London Philharmonic Orchestra	Audio CD: Decca Cat: 4582022
1977	Montserrat Caballé, Mirella Freni, Jose Carreras, Paul Plishka	Alain Lombard, Chorus of the Rhine Opera, Strasbourg Philarmonic Orchestra	Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 5652932
1988	Eva Marton, Plácido Domingo, Leona Mitchell, Paul Plishka	James Levine, Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus	DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 00440 073 0589
1998	Giovanna Casolla, Sergej Larin, Barbara Frittoli, Carlo Colombara	Zubin Mehta, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Fondazione	DVD: RCA Cat: 787798 928658

Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company

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