Product Description

Turandot has a unique place among Puccini’s works because of its complexity, the intertwining of the exotic and the fairy-tale, of tragedy and comedy. At the heart of the opera is the psychological exploration of the eponymous character which in her ambivalence of enchanting beauty and cruel nature differs from all of Puccini’s earlier heroines. In musical terms Turandot has all the marks of a unique work. Not only did it take longer to complete than the other operas – Puccini did not live to see its completion - but in none of his other works did he show so convincingly his ability to reflect the modern musical trends of his time, without, however, compromising the foundations of the traditional melodrama, to combine advanced styles with his own idiom. The fascinating thing about this opera even today is not primarily the wealth of inspired melodies – the only hit is Calaf’s aria Nessun dorma in the 3rd act – but the clever and imaginative tonality, the subtle instrumentation. Puccini has focussed even more emphatically on the portrayal of the specific ambience than in Madama Butterfly and has captured in a highly suggestive way the exotic atmosphere by using a great variety of compositional means, such as pentatonic melodies and unorthodox structures of movements, strange rhythms and an extraordinarily large percussion section.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124259 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Classical, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Customer Reviews

Fascinating
This DVD brings us a very important development in the life of the opera Turandot: the Berio ending. A couple of years ago the contemporary Italian composer Luciano Berio composed an alternative ending to the opera, to replace that supplied by Franco Alfano. (Puccini died before he could complete the last act of Turandot -- what he would have done had he lived a couple of more years is one of history's great tantalizing mysteries.)

If for nothing more, this DVD is of great interest to Puccini and Turandot fans for that ending. And it is a very interesting ending. Where Alfano is simplistic and loud, Berio is subtle and varied. The new ending is vastly more interesting than that of Alfano -- it actually addresses, in some satisfactory manner, the great problem of how Turandot can transform from ice princess to human being in a mere fifteen minutes of singing.

Some viewers will not like the staging, which casts everyone in a phantasmagoric Peking of half-human, half-machine beings. This is a matter of taste. There can be no "realistic" staging of Turandot -- to paraphrase Dorothy Parker, there is simply no "real" there. Turandot is a fantasy, pure and simple, and how one visualizes the fantasy is subjective in all cases. I found David Pountny's approach to be as good as any I have seen.

The casting features mature, accomplished singers in all the roles. One cannot fault the singing in any major way. The staging does call for them to be rather static in their acting, but this is not their fault. Unfortunately, there are a few occasions in the recording in which the singers are overwhelmed by the orchestra -- probably an issue of microphone placement or mixing.

This may not be the ideal first Turandot for someone not already familiar with the opera, but, fortunately, there are other choices. DVDs of productions from the Met and San Francisco are both available, and both are more traditional. But for a Turandot aficionado, this DVD is an absolute must-have.

VERY UNIQUE AND INTERESTING -- BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE
This is a very unusual performance of "Turandot". As one who always prefers traditional stagings, I found myself actually liking this highly unorthodox production. Puccini died before he could complete the opera (right after the death of the slavegirl Liu), and Franco Alfano completed it, based on Puccini's own sketches, and this is how the opera has been heard ever since. But in 2001, Luciano Berio took at Puccini's sketches and composed HIS version of an ending, and this is what we hear in this performance. This new ending by Luciano Berio shortens the opera by about twenty minutes, and eliminates a lot of the music we are accustomed hearing sung by Turandot and Prince Calaf. What it enables us to see is the melting of Turandot and her reaction to the death of Liu. It is a little strange, but it somehow manages to engage interest. Then, quick as a flash, Turandot and Calaf are united, and the opera is over. The production itself? Well, considering what we see these days, this is at least interesting and somewhat colorful. The idea is that Turandot reigns over an automated and unfeeling society, where people are treated like machines. Where did THIS come from? Who knows? --- these stage directors take liberties that were unheard of years ago. Gabriele Schnaut is a big voiced dramatic soprano( Birgit Nilsson she's not!), and she creates an interesting portrait, but she's far from faultless in her vocalization. Johan Botha sings adequately as Calaf, but he's so incredibly fat that no costume can do him justice. Visually, he is a definite liability. The most appealing member of the cast is Christina Gallardo-Domas, whose Liu is geniuinely and deeply sung and felt. Valery Gergiev does an excellent job with the orchestra, and moves the opera along at at an urgent pace. This is a highly unusual "Turandot", one that many may dislike. But there's a lot of unique and interesting stuff here, and it should be viewed with an open mind. I happen to like it ---- far more than I thought I would.

An enjoyable performance with a new ending
This release has lots to recommend it. The sets and costumes go for that retro-future look found in movies like "Metropolis", "Brazil", or "City of Lost Children". The inhabitants of these worlds share one more thing in common: they live under despotic rule. Their condition both physical and political, just like the character of Turandot, undergoes a radical change during the course of the opera. Act I looks the most like Jules Verne's vision of the future, a stunning act II boasts simply spectacular sets, while the last act is more subdued, more human. Whatever you think of the concept there can be no arguing the fact that everything looks like no expense was spared - too often radical productions of standard repertory look so cheap.
Of great significance is that this is the first Turandot released that has Luciano Berio's completion of the work Puccini left unfinished. I had to watch it a couple of times to get used to it. As Gabriele Schnaut states in an interview that is part of the DVD extras, this new finale is unabashedly Berio's, not pseudo-Puccini, and it works. With Alfano's ending there can be no doubt that you've just heard a fairy tale. Berio brings this fantasy world closer to our own, and rather than the "happily ever after" we get that uneasy, exciting sensation brought about by hope, love being its instigator. I'm not saying it's better or worse than Alfano's - it's there and now audiences have a choice.
I enjoyed the direction, in particular the movements by and around Turandot. The Turandot-Liu exchange I found the most revealing, with a nice touch added at the point Liu commits suicide (if that's what you call what happens here), when Turandot literally becomes Liu through the removal of her regal coat. The action around Liu's body (which remains on stage until almost the very end of the opera) might be the only aspect of the production that could be accused of being eurotrashy. Schnaut is the best in the acting department, with vivid and expressive facial expressions. Hers is a large, dependable voice, not perfect, not beautiful. Have we ever had an ideal Turandot? I found her no less convincing vocally or physically than the other most tolerable choice on video, Eva Marton. Botha's good acting moments seem to happen by accident, though he's competent enough and sings very well, occasionally overpowered by the orchestra. For those who care about these things: he does sing the optional high C towards the end of Act II, and it's good one. I was very sad with Cristina Gallardo-Domas' performance. She seems not to have shed Lius from other productions with stereotypical Victor Book of Opera "I'm Chinese" poses when in this whole affair no one is pretending to have any close affinity to the Far East other than what the text "inconveniently" makes them say. So maybe this is the director's fault, not so her singing: wobbly, unsteady and thin, no hint of that sweetness and beauty you could hear just a few years ago. I really hope she was just having a bad night. Paata Burchuladze, looking considerably slimmer than last time I saw him, does a great job with his small role. The three masks, wearing complicated costumes, are also more than adequate. This is not an opera where the conducting is going to unveil some deeply insightful revelations: it's a big show, and Gergiev conducts expertly with full, even, lush sounds from his orchestra, no controversial tempos or outbursts.
Every now and then there are moments when you wish you had a wider angle of vision because you know things are happening on stage you cannot see. Other than that the video direction is generally good, not the usual Brian Large smell-the-sweat, see-the-nose-hairs close-ups of most of his Met videos. The sound is excellent. Both the Italian and Spanish subtitles are screwed up and anything with an accent mark comes out as a different symbol.
Nothing wrong with liking the Zeffirelli circus from the Met (I do), Mehta's Beijing extravaganza, or San Francisco's airplane ladder (the other DVD choices). But if you want something a bit less traditional yet thoughtful and professionally executed, you will enjoy this performance. There's also the added bonus of a valiant modern attempt to complete what Puccini left unfinished.