Turandot vs Mother Nature
While watching the Turandot HD Telecast on November, 7th, it became apparent that the performance in the house was definitely superior to the one shown in selected movie theaters around the world, or to be specific at the El Con in Tucson, AZ. Just a few minutes into Act One, the audience realized the weather patterns were not going to cooperate with the Satellite in the sky.
The glitches started in Act One when the sound would go off for a second or two accompanied by some visual dropouts, causing the thrust of Puccini’s great music to develop a case of the jitters. In Act Two, after Turandot’s In Questa Regia aria, the first five or six measures of Straniero, Ascolta! went silent, lessening the intensity which soprano Maria Guleghina had so effectively established for her ice princess up to that point. Shorter silence spans along with some horizontal white lines darting across the screen plagued the rest of the telecast.
Critics of Franco Zeffirelli’s opulent production have called it everything from breathtaking to gaudy, depending on their tolerance for the director’s theatrical display. On the other hand, audiences have had nothing but praise for Zeffirelli’s detailed production of Carlo Gozzi’s 1762 fairy tale. And from the smiling faces at the Saturday matinee, their approval will continue as long as the Met wants to keep the director’s money-making 1983 production.
The theater was packed, and it remained so until the opera ended. Luckily, the performance had enough going for it to compensate for the technological blips.
Both Guleghina and tenor Marcello Giordani as Calaf, the unknown prince, are new to their roles this year, with varying results. The soprano, from her first entrance in Act Two for what is described in the libretto as the ‘Riddle’ scene, showed she had a clear vision of the role. Her comportment and gestures were in tune with the music, so she was able to make the called-for transition from the iron-willed princess who was determined not to give in to Calaf’s advances, to finally accepting his love in Act Three. Guleghina’s middle voice was secure and warm, and, for the most part, she hit the many high B’s and C’s that Puccini demanded from his Turandot. During an intermission interview, Guleghina stated the role is hell to sing – an apt description with which many sopranos would agree. The role fits the soprano’s present vocal state, and one she will keep in her repertoire.
Giordani’s Calaf had the ringing tones necessary for the three riddles Turandot poses for him in Act Two and the climatic high note everyone waits for in the aria, Nessun Dorma. On the debit side, the tenor sang many of his phrases without connecting one to another; this vocal disconnect translated into an awkward acting style.
Soprano Marina Poplavskaya as Liù, the devoted slave-girl, rendered the most complete vocal and dramatic performance at the matinee. She sang with warmth, beautiful phrasing and lovely pianissimos. She was guided by the deft hand of Andris Nelsons, a young conductor making his debut at the Met, who shared his love of Puccini’s Chinese musical fantasy not only with Poplavskaya, but with the entire cast. He proved to be another welcome addition to the accomplished conducting staff the company is attracting these days.
Veteran bass Samuel Ramey as Timur, the exiled Tartar king, offered the best performance he could muster in a role he first sang thirty-five years ago with New York City Opera as he said during an intermission interview. Opera lovers were also reminded of his extraordinary and well-deserved international career we have enjoyed over these many years.
Both Puccini and his librettists Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni wanted to retain Gozzi’s use of the commedia dell’arte figures that the author incorporated into his ‘Fabia cinese.’ The librettists and the composer’s main goal was to show the contrast between the tragic and comic which they felt the opera needed. What they ended up with were three Court Ministers called Ping, Pang and Pong. While they appeared throughout the opera, their big scene was at the beginning of Act Two. Baritone Joshua Hopkins and tenors Tony Stevenson and Eduardo Valdes used the right vocal delivery in relating how many princes lost their heads because they failed to answer Turandot’s three riddles. Puccini filled this section with varied dynamics that showed his penchant for drollery and his fascination with the grotesque.
In this scene, Gary Halvorson’s camera leaned too heavily on individual shots of the trio rather than pulling back to show the elegant, flowing lines the three men demonstrated as a unit. But in the second scene of Act Two, the video director used some well-executed overhead shots that detailed the expanse of the opulence and rich decor of the royal palace’s vast square that Zeffirelli had created.
If Zeffirelli’s production is given a more than decent performance, and certainly this one was, the result is a highly enjoyable afternoon at the opera.
Go to www.metopera.org and click on The Met Live in HD for a synopsis of the opera.
