TURANDOT
Giacomo Puccini
Arena di Verona
23rd July (First night) 9:00 pm
27th July – 9:00 pm
12, 19, 25 August - 8:45 pm
Turandotby Giacomo Puccini is the fourth opera scheduled at the 94th Opera Festival of the Arena di Verona and is being staged from Saturday 23rd July at 9.00 pm for 5 evenings until 25th August.
Direction and set design are by Franco Zeffirelli and costumes by Oscar winner Emi Wada; the production is completed by the choreography of Maria Grazia Garofoli and lighting design by Paolo Mazzon.The conductor is Andrea Battistoni.
Further performances:27th July (9:00 pm) – 12, 19, 25 August (8:45 pm)
Turandot, an opera in three acts and five scenes to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, was staged for the first time at the Arena in 1928 with a production designed by Ettore Fagiuoli and has been performed on the Verona stage in 18 seasons with 10 different productions.
Puccini received the first draft of the libretto at Christmas 1920 and the original project should only have featured two acts.The composer’s biggest obstacle was the transformation of the character of Turandot from an ice-cold vindictive princess into a woman in love, as can be understood from the words of the composer himself:“For me, the duet [between Calaf and Turandot] must be the climax – but it must contain something great, audacious, unexpected and not leave things as they were are the beginning [...] I could write a book on this topic.”And then:“The duet!The duet! Everything decisive, beautiful and deeply theatrical is there! [...]The effusion of love must arrive like a luminous fireball amidst the din of the people, who ecstatically absorb it with their nerves as taut as quivering cello strings.”Unfortunately, the two librettists, Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, responded extremely slowly to the requests for revision and the composer complained of the continuous delays in work’s progress.In 1923 Puccini had written the score up to the death of Liù and only an initial draft remains of the finale; in fact, he died in Brussels on 29th November 1924, leaving the opera unfinished (it was completed by Franco Alfano).
The first performance of Turandot was staged on 25th April 1926 at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, who stopped the performance in the middle of Act 3, two bars after the verse «Dormi, oblia, Liù, poesia!», addressing audience as follows:“The performance ends here, because the Maestro died at this point.”The following evening the opera was performed, again conducted by Toscanini, but including the finale by Alfano.
The imposing cinematographic production by Franco Zeffirelli reproduces Imperial China thanks to its impressive scenery and large crowd scenes, and is enriched by the sumptuous costumes by Academy Award winning Japanese costume designer Emi Wada.Everything contributes to highlighting the atmosphere of the drama of enigmas per excellence, where life itself is at risk and the response is in the love that will melt the protagonist’s icy heart.Princess Turandot, who refuses to be seduced by any man, plays with the lives of her suitors, certain that nobody will win her challenge.Only Calaf will manage to really win the heart of Turandot and thus overcome the distance that keeps the princess far from true love.
On the conductor’s podium for the five performances, Andrea Battistoni; in the role of Princess Turandot there will be Oksana Dyka (23, 27/7 – 19, 25/8) and Tiziana Caruso (12/8), Carlo Ventre (23, 27/7 –12, 19/8) and Dario Di Vietri (25/8) will alternate as the audacious Calaf. The Tartar king Timur will have the voice of Carlo Cigni, whereas the sweet Liù will be performed by Elena Rossi (23, 27/7 – 12/8) and Donata D’Annunzio Lombardi (19, 25/8). The three ministers will be performed by Federico Longhi (23, 27/7 – 12/8) and Marcello Rosiello (19, 25/8) as Ping, Francesco Pittari as Pong and Giorgio Trucco as Pang.The Emperor Altoum will be Cristiano Olivieri, the MandarinPaolo Battaglia and the Prince of Persia Michele Salaorni.
Marco Tonini will direct the A.d’A.MUS children’s chorus.The opera features the Fondazione di Verona ArenaOrchestra, Chorus, Dance Company (coordinated by Gaetano Petrosino) and Technicians, as well as numerous mimes and extras.
Info
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OF THE 2016 ARENA DI VERONA OPERA FESTIVAL
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