Programs · Episode

Puccini: Turandot

Program: At the Opera
Aired: Saturday, September 21, 2024 @ 6:00 pm
Hosted by Lisa Simeone

As he proved with Madame Butterfly and La Fanciulla del West, Puccini never hesitated to apply his proudly Italian sensibilities to far flung, “exotic” locales. With his final opera, Turandot, he did it one more time — in an opera featuring “Nessun dorma,” perhaps the most famous tenor aria ever composed. On At the Opera, we’ll explore two recordings of the opera, featuring tenors Jussi Bjoerling and Jonas Kaufmann, with sopranos Birgit Nilsson and Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role.

MORE ABOUT THE OPERA:

Remember Helen of Troy?  The beautiful princess with the "face that launched a thousand ships?"  Well, in Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot, the title character is another legendary beauty — you might call her "the princess whose face took a thousand heads."

Turandot, is based on an ancient, Persian legend, which Puccini sets in a faraway kingdom.  It tells of a princess so desirable that men come by the hundreds, travelling from all over the world, simply for the privilege of asking for her hand.  

It's a dangerous quest. To even get a chance to "pop the question," a man first has to answer three, vexing riddles — with his life on the line in the process. Anyone who fails the test winds up as part of a grisly display: a forest of heads on pikes, placed at the gates of Turandot's realm, as a warning to all the suitors still hoping for their turn.

The opera tells us about a mysterious prince who does solve the riddles — terrifying Turandot in the process. He is then magnanimous enough to present the newly vulnerable princess with a riddle of his own, and a chance to get off the hook.  Along the way, Puccini gives the clever prince a musical reward, in the stirring aria "Nessun Dorma" – perhaps the most famous tenor aria ever composed.

Puccini began sketching Turandot as early as 1920. He wanted some authentic eastern touches, so he enlisted the help of a friend's Chinese music box and some sheets of folk music.

It was slow going.  Puccini and his librettists struggled with the opera – especially with the drama's "love conquers all" ending.  When Puccini died, in 1924, the final act was left unfinished.

At the urging of conductor Arturo Toscanini, the opera was completed, using Puccini's sketches, by composer Franco Alfano.  Still, when Toscanni led the world premiere, in 1926 at La Scala, he famously laid down his baton at the point of the last music Puccini composed. Eventually, with Toscanini's assistance, the score was published with Alfano's ending, and that's how it's usually heard today — with a triumphant final chorus that echoes the famous aria.

On AT THE OPERA host Lisa Simeone takes us through Turandot in recordings featuring sopranos Birgit Nilson and Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role, and tenors Jussi Bjoerling and Jonas Kaufmann as Calaf.

Featured Recordings:

Erich Leinsdorf, conductor

Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus

CAST: Birgit Nilsson (Turandot); Jussi Bjoerling (Calaf); Renata Tebaldi (Liù); Giorgio Tozzi (Timur)

(RCA 82876-82624)

Antonio Pappano, conductor

Santa Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Chorus

CAST: CAST: Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot); Jonas Kaufmann (Calaf); Ermonela Jaho (Liù); Michele Pertusi (Timur)

 (Warner Classics 5054197406591)

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