Good Sense in Music and Vision 26 October

Good Sense

Turandot in Rome as written by Puccini,
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

On 23 October, as the last opera of the 2012-2013 season, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma unveiled a new production of Turandot by Giacomo Puccini with a special touch: it ended where the composer stopped writing the score, as Toscanini decided to do for the world premiere at La Scala on 25 April 1926. This means before the last scene -- the long duet between the 'icy' Chinese Princess and the passionate Tartar prince in love with her -- composed by Franco Alfano, on the basis of Puccini's own sketches, then revised by Arturo Toscanini himself. More recently, Luciano Berio wrote a new finale for the opera and only a few years ago the young Chinese composer Hao Weiya made his own attempt at the last scene. For several years, Italian theatres have utilized Alfano's finale as revised by Toscanini. I also had the opportunity to listen to Alfano's full (and much longer, as well as quite elaborate) score (which Toscanini did not like) as well as to Berio's work (with a protracted diminuendo) and to Hao Weiya's effort twice at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago and at a performance by the National Opera House of China (An Elegant Staging, 10 October 2012). All in all, it makes good sense to complete the opera as Puccini composed it. He stopped at the third act 'Liù's death' scene and then for a full year attempted to write the final duet, which he expected to equal that of the second act of Tristan und Isolde. For a variety of reasons, though, he never succeeded in doing this, nor was he ever happy with the outcome. Musically, the score is perfect. Dramatically, it requires imaginative stage direction. I was in the audience on 23 October 2013.

A scene from Puccini's 'Turandot' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2013 Luciano Romano. Click on the image for higher resolution

Roberto De Simone was responsible for the dramaturgy with Nicola Rubertelli in charge of the stage set and Odette Nicoletti making the costumes. In 2009, the same team had produced a very similar staging for the inauguration of the huge Petruzzelli Theatre in Bari which had been devastated by a fire in the early 1990s. The action is set in the Xian Mausoleum where a terracotta army was found by archeologists some thirty years ago.

A scene from Puccini's 'Turandot' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2013 Luciano Romano. Click on the image for higher resolution

The stage is crowded with extras, mimes and dancers: indeed, a very busy Beijing. There is an interesting visual contrast between the very colorful costumes of the crowd and the brown terracotta army. The dramaturgy is quite linear, but even though, with so many people on the stage in the upper tier, the audience might lose sight of the protagonists. While the curtain falls, the Princess and the Prince join hands, indicating that Liù's sacrifice of her own life did have a meaning.

Carmela Remigio as Liù in Puccini's 'Turandot' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2013 Luciano Romano. Click on the image for higher resolution

The music was more problematic. Pinchas Steinberg, a well-known and well-respected conductor, was able to handle this very complex score (containing references to oriental music and to Debussy and Strauss) quite well. However, he kept the orchestral sound too loud and it seemed slightly monotonous. Neither this nor the powerful chorus directed by Roberto Gabbiani helped the soloists to be heard. Evelyn Herlitzius (a very accomplished Strauss and Wagner singer) in the title role suffered the most, because her voice was covered by the orchestra in her main aria (In questa Reggia) and she had no opportunity to show her talents in the Alfano-Berio-Weiya duet at the end of the opera.

Marcello Giordani as Calaf and Evelyn Herlitzius in the title role of Puccini's 'Turandot' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2013 Luciano Romano. Click on the image for higher resolution

Marcello Giordani was a good Calaf; his voice has slightly darkened. Carmela Remigio was exceptional, both vocally and dramatically, as Liù. The overall reception by the audience was less enthusiastic than expected.

Copyright © 26 October 2013 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy