Giacomo Puccini<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opera<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni based on the eponymous fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi. First performance: 25 April 1926, Milan. Premiere at the Astana Opera House: 22-23 June 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opera in 3 acts<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Performed in Italian<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (The performance will have synchronized Kazakh and Russian supertitles)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Act I<\/p>\n\n\n\n A crowd has gathered in the darkness of the night against the tough walls of the Imperial Palace in Peking. A mandarin reads a royal decree stating that the princess Turandot will only marry the one who solves her three riddles. He who will make just one mistake is going to be executed \u2013 many have already forfeited their lives because of the empty-hearted princess. Executioner\u2019s axe awaits the young Prince of Persia who failed to solve the three riddles \u2013 he will be beheaded at dawn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Timur, the aged deposed King of Tartary, and his loyal slave girl Li\u00f9, who won\u2019t leave the old blind man\u2019s side, appear in the huddle. The crowd nearly squashes them, but a well-built young man comes to their rescue: that is how Timur meets Calaf, his son whom he thought to be perished. They happily recognize each other and the joyful Li\u00f9 greets the young prince respectively: it has been long since the slave girl hopelessly fell in love with the prince Calaf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The crowd awaits the first ray of the rising Sun and the blood that will follow. Executioners lead the victim out \u2013 it is the Prince of Persia. Pleas for mercy reach the palace walls, and Turandot, the beauty who doesn\u2019t know what love is, appears on the balcony. Turandot charms Calaf; an irresistible attraction sparks in his heart and he is willing to try his fate. The Prince of Persia is being beheaded right in front of Calaf\u2019s eyes. Timur beseeches his son not to give way to blind passion and run towards certain death. Royal ministers Ping, Pang and Pong want to stop Calaf from taking the fatal step; the crowd joins them. But all is in vain \u2013 Calaf listens to no one. He strikes a huge gong and the royal palace\u2019s gates open in front of him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Act II<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scene 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ping, Pang and Pong spend an anxious night. They feel distressed and ruminate on what they can do to stop the several-year-long bloodshed. Bad feelings about the upcoming end to peace and might of China gnaw at the hearts of the three ministers. They lament the fate of their country and people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scene 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n People gather on a square in front of the Imperial Palace. The Emperor Altoum urges the unknown prince to withdraw his challenge before it is too late. But all is in vain, the prince won\u2019t back out. The mandarin repeats the condition of the dreadful trial. Turandot, full of hatred towards men, appears. The princess delivers her three riddles in succession, and the unknown prince easily solves the first one, answers the second one after a moment\u2019s thought and replies to the third one with great difficulty, nearly forfeiting his life. Turandot is in terror and pleads with her farther the Emperor to take back his words and save her from men. However, the Emperor displays loyalty to his word: Turandot must marry the one who has solved the three riddles. The unknown prince does not want to compel the princess to marry him and suggests a new trial: should Turandot guess his name before sunrise, the victory will be hers and then let he be beheaded. The Emperor accepts the terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Act III<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scene 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peking locals spend a sleepless night searching for a clue to the mystery that would grant severe freedom to Turandot, but nobody knows the name of the unknown prince. Ministers Ping, Pang and Pong meet Calaf in the Imperial Gardens and beg him to leave Peking and save the city and its citizens from unrest and suffering. In the meantime, Timur and Li\u00f9 are captured for they know the stranger\u2019s name. Death awaits them should they fail to give it away. Li\u00f9 confesses: yes, she does know the prince\u2019s name but there are no tortures that would make her say it. Having no more strengths to bear the agony, Li\u00f9 stabs herself to death with a dagger. Turandot is amazed by the self-sacrifice of the slave girl. A funeral procession follows the empty-hearted Turandot\u2019s new victim to her grave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With impassioned words and kisses, Calaf engenders love in Turandot\u2019s icy heart and reveals his identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scene 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crowd moves towards the Imperial Palace. Happy Turandot and Calaf approach the Emperor. Turandot tells her father that she knows the stranger\u2019s name: it is Love! The crowd cheers and acclaims the princess\u2019s words: trials and bloodshed are over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni based on the eponymous fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi. First performance: 25 April 1926, Milan. Premiere at the Astana Opera House: 22-23 June 2018.<\/p>\n