Puccini: Turandot

beautiful to watch
An interesting Turandot, beautiful to watch - the design and especially the lighting make it something special for the eyes. Not so much for the ears, although I warmed up to Luana deVol's Turandot as it progressed. It helped to have first watched the mini-docu about her in the extras provided. It made me believe more in her artistry. She owns a hardworking and not particularly beautiful voice, more hardy than rich, but she's an able actor, and her committment carries the day. The riddle scene, despite its lack of vocal lustre, is a convincing piece of operatic art. Filmed live at the Liceu, the recording balances arent all they could be. When the singers are downstage, the sound is robust; as they recede upstage things become troublesome. The sets are lit beautifully, expressing an holistic, at times visionary, approach to the story. Tenor Franco Farina is only sporadically standout, and mostly seems to struggle with Calaf's big moments. Barbara Frittoli leaves a lot to be desired...

Worthy, Opulant Turandot
This production of Puccini's TURANDOT, recorded in its revival in 2005 for the Gran Teatre del Liceu, opened the rebuilt Liceu after the disastrous fire of 1994, and is notable for the stage direction of Nuria Espert, Spain's famous actress and performer, and also for the house and role debut of Luana DeVol in the title role.

For those who appreciate seeing an opera performed in the time and place envisioned by the composer, there is no lack of visual opulence in the set design by Ezio Frigerio and the costumes by Franca Squarciapino.

Nuria Espert takes us into a realm ruled not only by the man-hater Turandot, but also by an entire female political structure comprised of women ranging from a group of aged, severe governesses down to 6 young girls'future Turandots? Espert questions the ability of Turandot to transform herself into the man-loving Mrs. Calaf in the last scenes of the opera. Instead, Turandot sheds her first tears at the recognition of love, yet...

One to avoid
Oh my. I can't really think of THE Turandot video to recommend, but I know that this isn't it. The "modern" ending of Turandot killing herself is just an example of Espert projecting a view onto an opera without taking into consideration whether or not it fits with the characters, the story, or even the music. It does neither. Which is a shame, because Turandot's transformation in Act 3 is really quite stunningly acted. But then there's the singing. Barbara Frittoli as Liu is the best soloist here, but she's just as good in the better Mehta video. Luana DeVol has an incredibly wobbly voice, yet still uses it better than expected. Even if she's not as good as most other Turandots on video, she's not terrible; and, as I said, she's a good actress. If she doesn't exactly look the part of an alluring Chinese princess, she at least has the ability to look threatening or sweet at a moment's notice, which could have been used to greater effect had Espert just let her follow the libretto...

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