'Turandot' has always been close to my heart since performing it nine years ago in the chorus, which at the time was a huge achievement for me. To this day, this reviewer still considers it one of Puccini's best operas along with 'Tosca', 'La Boheme' and 'Madama Butterfly'.
This production had so much going for it. Few other opera houses do 'Turandot' quite like the Metropolitan Opera and few opera directors can do spectacle quite like Franco Zeffirelli. This may seem like this is going to be a negative review, but actually it isn't. There were so many good things with this production, and it is solid as an overall performance, but if other areas were done better it would have been elevated from a solid performance to a great one.
Starting with what was good, the production looked absolutely phenomenal. The sets are typical Zeffirelli, big, sumptuous and elaborate, and the costumes are gorgeously rich in colour and design. The sensitive and remarkably intimate video directing doesn't cheapen the production values at all, and captures the drama very well mostly, though not quite as successfully in the busier scenes (like at the beginning of Act 1). Staging's very grand in spectacle and just spectacular to watch, Act 2 Scene 2 takes the breath away. Yet there is still a blazing intensity ("The Three Riddles" scene), heart-wrenching poignancy (Liu in Act 3) and a little humour with Ping, Pang and Pong, with whom Zeffirelli does a fine job individualising.
A vast majority of the time, almost all the time in fact, the production was outstanding musically. The orchestra play with all the hair-raising power, tender lyricism, rousing grandeur and poetic nuance that Puccini's music needs, and throughout they sound positively majestic. The chorus, whose role in 'Turandot' is huge, as always sound splendid, while their acting is a fine mix of chilling, joyous and (in Liu's death scene, which did reduce me to tears as it should, it is the opera's most emotional scene) remorseful. The conducting allows the music to breathe in the more intimate parts ("Signore Ascolta" and "Non Piangere Liu"), but is fiery and authoritative enough to keep the drama alive in particularly the chorus work. The sound is resonant enough, and Renee Fleming is a charming host.
Nina Stemme as Turandot may (and has done) polarise viewers and listeners. This reviewer is of the opinion that she sounded incredible in this notoriously taxing role (one of the most difficult in all opera, especially "In Questa Reggia"), her middle register is warm and her top is volcanic without being shrill and unsteady. With the acting, she does cut a formidable and appropriately icy figure but there was too a vulnerability that was touching. If there is a criticism though it did seem like maybe she changed from icy to vulnerable too early. Alexander Tsymbalyuk sings limpidly and nobly, though his voice is darker than most Timurs (not a criticism by the way), and dramatically he does pathos really movingly, his reaction to Liu's death was so convincing one would think it was real. Ronald Naldi has a good voice and while Emperor Altoum is a feeble character physically Naldi does bring authority and surprising steel too. Tony Stevenson, Eduardo Valdes and in particular Dwayne Croft are truly entertaining scene stealers as Pong, Pang and Ping and the chemistry between them has such panache. The best singing and acting of the production comes from Anita Hartig, it is not the first time the Liu has stolen the show admittedly but Hartig shimmers vocally and she had me desperately trying to hold back sobs during her death scene, that was how poignant she was.
Unfortunately, the production does have its debits. As spectacular as the spectacle was, it did swamp the drama on occasions with some of Act 1 bordering on too busy and overblown, distracting one from what was going on in the story and what was happening between Calaf, Timur and Liu. The chemistry between Turandot and Calaf is barely there in their big duet in Act 3, which is a larger reason as to why Turandot's character change didn't convince. It was like Zeffirelli had almost completely neglected that scene, because the chemistry between Stemme and Marco Berti was cold and the acting was very static.
Speaking of Berti, for me he was the production's biggest drawback. Although he was serviceable in the Royal Opera production, subpar is not enough to describe how bad he was in the role here. There may be some bias as I have always been indifferent to Berti, apart from one or two occasions, and while it is better than his Enzo ('La Gioconda', the worst in the role on DVD) and the title role of 'Ernani' (likewise) it's on the same level as his Radames in 'Aida'. The only thing that is good about Berti's Calaf is that he has just about the right size voice for it, but that's it. Vocally, he is unpleasant to listen to, with a lot of hectoring and straining, intonation problems galore and showing once again that he can only sing one dynamic which is pretty much fortissimo. Personally have never heard a worse version of "Nessun Dorma", which sounded more like barking than singing. As for the acting, don't blame the role for Berti forgetting to show any real heroism, nuance or involvement, Berti has nearly always been a non-entity as an actor and he looked as though he didn't want to be there, which stuck out sorely compared to the commitment shown by everybody else.
In summary, there are so many great things with this production of 'Turandot' and it is a solid performance. Just that had some the spectacle been toned down a little less and had there been a tenor other than Berti as Calaf it could have been even more than that. 7/10 Bethany Cox
This production had so much going for it. Few other opera houses do 'Turandot' quite like the Metropolitan Opera and few opera directors can do spectacle quite like Franco Zeffirelli. This may seem like this is going to be a negative review, but actually it isn't. There were so many good things with this production, and it is solid as an overall performance, but if other areas were done better it would have been elevated from a solid performance to a great one.
Starting with what was good, the production looked absolutely phenomenal. The sets are typical Zeffirelli, big, sumptuous and elaborate, and the costumes are gorgeously rich in colour and design. The sensitive and remarkably intimate video directing doesn't cheapen the production values at all, and captures the drama very well mostly, though not quite as successfully in the busier scenes (like at the beginning of Act 1). Staging's very grand in spectacle and just spectacular to watch, Act 2 Scene 2 takes the breath away. Yet there is still a blazing intensity ("The Three Riddles" scene), heart-wrenching poignancy (Liu in Act 3) and a little humour with Ping, Pang and Pong, with whom Zeffirelli does a fine job individualising.
A vast majority of the time, almost all the time in fact, the production was outstanding musically. The orchestra play with all the hair-raising power, tender lyricism, rousing grandeur and poetic nuance that Puccini's music needs, and throughout they sound positively majestic. The chorus, whose role in 'Turandot' is huge, as always sound splendid, while their acting is a fine mix of chilling, joyous and (in Liu's death scene, which did reduce me to tears as it should, it is the opera's most emotional scene) remorseful. The conducting allows the music to breathe in the more intimate parts ("Signore Ascolta" and "Non Piangere Liu"), but is fiery and authoritative enough to keep the drama alive in particularly the chorus work. The sound is resonant enough, and Renee Fleming is a charming host.
Nina Stemme as Turandot may (and has done) polarise viewers and listeners. This reviewer is of the opinion that she sounded incredible in this notoriously taxing role (one of the most difficult in all opera, especially "In Questa Reggia"), her middle register is warm and her top is volcanic without being shrill and unsteady. With the acting, she does cut a formidable and appropriately icy figure but there was too a vulnerability that was touching. If there is a criticism though it did seem like maybe she changed from icy to vulnerable too early. Alexander Tsymbalyuk sings limpidly and nobly, though his voice is darker than most Timurs (not a criticism by the way), and dramatically he does pathos really movingly, his reaction to Liu's death was so convincing one would think it was real. Ronald Naldi has a good voice and while Emperor Altoum is a feeble character physically Naldi does bring authority and surprising steel too. Tony Stevenson, Eduardo Valdes and in particular Dwayne Croft are truly entertaining scene stealers as Pong, Pang and Ping and the chemistry between them has such panache. The best singing and acting of the production comes from Anita Hartig, it is not the first time the Liu has stolen the show admittedly but Hartig shimmers vocally and she had me desperately trying to hold back sobs during her death scene, that was how poignant she was.
Unfortunately, the production does have its debits. As spectacular as the spectacle was, it did swamp the drama on occasions with some of Act 1 bordering on too busy and overblown, distracting one from what was going on in the story and what was happening between Calaf, Timur and Liu. The chemistry between Turandot and Calaf is barely there in their big duet in Act 3, which is a larger reason as to why Turandot's character change didn't convince. It was like Zeffirelli had almost completely neglected that scene, because the chemistry between Stemme and Marco Berti was cold and the acting was very static.
Speaking of Berti, for me he was the production's biggest drawback. Although he was serviceable in the Royal Opera production, subpar is not enough to describe how bad he was in the role here. There may be some bias as I have always been indifferent to Berti, apart from one or two occasions, and while it is better than his Enzo ('La Gioconda', the worst in the role on DVD) and the title role of 'Ernani' (likewise) it's on the same level as his Radames in 'Aida'. The only thing that is good about Berti's Calaf is that he has just about the right size voice for it, but that's it. Vocally, he is unpleasant to listen to, with a lot of hectoring and straining, intonation problems galore and showing once again that he can only sing one dynamic which is pretty much fortissimo. Personally have never heard a worse version of "Nessun Dorma", which sounded more like barking than singing. As for the acting, don't blame the role for Berti forgetting to show any real heroism, nuance or involvement, Berti has nearly always been a non-entity as an actor and he looked as though he didn't want to be there, which stuck out sorely compared to the commitment shown by everybody else.
In summary, there are so many great things with this production of 'Turandot' and it is a solid performance. Just that had some the spectacle been toned down a little less and had there been a tenor other than Berti as Calaf it could have been even more than that. 7/10 Bethany Cox
