Classical Music / Opera
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it premiered in 1926 after the music was posthumously completed by Franco Alfano.
Act I
A Mandarin reads the royal decree that the Princess Turandot will marry any royal suitor who anser her three riddles. If he cannot, the price shall be his head. Her most recent suitor, the Prince of Persia, is to be executed at the moon’s rising. In the commotion outside the palace a blind man falls to the ground, and his companion, Liù, asks for help. They are aided by Calaf, who recognizes the man as his long-lost father, Timur, the banished ruler of his land. Calaf, like his father, is running from enemies and concealing his identity, and is known only as the Unknown Prince. Liù continues to aid Timur even in exile because years before, as she explains, Calaf bestowed a smile upon her.
The people impatiently await the beheading. As the Prince of Persia enters, the crowd is suddenly moved and pleads with the Princess to pardon him. Turandot appears and dispassionately confirms the Prince’s sentence with a silent gesture. Calaf immediately is entranced by Turandot's beauty when she apppears to condemn the Prince of Persia. Timur and Liù try to convince the smitten Calàf that he must leave with them, but he breaks away and attempts to announce himself as a suitor. The three ministers of the Imperial Household, Ping, Pang, and Pong, warn him of his folly, to n and tries to dissuade him, but to no avail. Liù begs him to listen, but Calaf ignores her entreaties and ceremoniously rings the gong, signifying his challenge for Turandot’s hand.
Act II
Ping, Pang, and Pong prepare for the eventuality of a wedding or a funeral. They discuss their misery since Turandot reached marriageable age, numbering the many noble suitors who have met a deadly fate. They long for their country homes. Their hopes are guarded. Is there truly a man whose passion can melt Turandot’s icy heart?
A crowd assembles for the Trial of the three riddles. Turandot devised this system to avenge her ancestress, who was captured, raped, and put to death by marauding invaders. She offers Calaf one last chance to withdraw, but he stands firm. The first question is offered: “What is born each night and dies each dawn?” Calàf correctly answers “Hope.” Slightly taken aback, Turandot poses the next riddle: “What flares warm like a flame, yet it is no flame?” Calaf hesitates, then answers perfectly “Blood.” Visibly shaken, Turandot asks the final question: “The ice that gives you fire, what can it be?” Calaf waits a while and triumphantly cries “Turandot!” The people celebrate his victory, but Turandot pleads with the emperor not to be given to this Unknown Prince. Seeing her distress, Calaf offers a riddle of his own: “If before dawn you can discover the name I bear, I shall forfeit my life.”
Act III
It is decreed that no one shall sleep, under penalty of death, until the name of the Unknown Prince is discovered. Calaf expresses his conviction that he alone will reveal the secret. Ping, Pang, and Pong offer prizes, including his safe escape, if he tells them his name. Timur and Liù are captured, and at Turandot’s request Timur is to be tortured until he reveals the truth. Liù steps forward and says that she knows the prince’s name but will keep it as her eternal secret then offers herself without revealing Calaf's name. She stabs herself, but before dying she predicts that Turandot will love Calaf by dawn. Calaf reproaches the Princess for her cruelty.
Turandot’s strength and desire for revenge leave her, and she weeps for the first time. Turandot is transformed and admits her love for him. Calaf reveals his true identity, thereby putting his life in Turandot’s hands. Trumpets announce the arrival of dawn. Turandot addresses the emperor and the people, and announces Calaf's name to the crowd: “I have discovered the stranger’s name: it is Love!”
Photo credit:
Turandot. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain. Promotional poster for Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot", on 25 April 1926
Resources:
Martin, Nicholas Ivor. The Da Capo Opera Manual. New York: Da Capo Press (1997)
Turandot. en.wikipedia.org
(c) April 2010. Updated April 25, 2024. Tel Asiado. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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