Giacomo Puccini: Turandot

The Persian fairy tale of Turandot, from the 17th century collection of the Dervish Mukhlis of Isfahan, known as The Thousand and One Nights, has continued to attract countless artists, authors and composers. For his part, Giacomo Puccini started to set the libretto he had received from Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, based on Carlo Gozzi’s play, during the final four years of his life, when he was already battling with throat cancer. Despite that, he did his utmost once again, as he had done previously with Madama Butterfly, to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of the culture and songs of exotic, faraway China. He died before completing the opera’s finale, leaving behind 36 sketches which were taken up by his friend and pupil, Franco Alfano. The premiere took place in Milan’s La Scala, on April 25, 1926, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini who then honoured the memory of the late composer by laying down the baton in Act Three, two bars after the words “Liù, poesia!”, with the words: “Here ends the work of the Master”. The complete opera, with the finale from Alfani, had to wait until the second night. In the story, the cruel and emotionless Princess Turandot confronts her suitors with riddles that, if unsolved, cost them their lives. Eventually, Prince Calaf comes up with the right guess, and his love proves the definitive weapon in conquering Turandot’s cold heart.

The New German Theatre (today’s Prague State Opera) presented Turandot for the first time on March 14, 1934, with Georg Széll conducting. Subsequent productions followed, with premieres on December 8, 1935, May 6, 1967, and September 15, 1995. That last staging was exceptionally well received during the Prague State Opera’s visit to Salzburg, in October 2008.

Premiere: Sep 15, 1995

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