Turandot

This past Friday I flew up to New York to interview Janai Brugger, singing the role of Liù at the Metropolitan Opera's production of Turandot. I will be posting pictures as well as parts of the interview soon. However, first I thought I would share my experience at the opera. This was the first opera I had ever seen at the Met, and it was incredible. It was incredible on every scale, including the chorus, the sets, as well as the title roles. The sets were absolutely huge. I wondered how they even were able to build them and take them down so quickly. Well, not SO quickly. The intermission between act one and two was nearly an hour, but it wasn't so bad. The set for act two was a huge chinese palace, glittering and golden. Everything looked realistic and luxurious. Another thing that is cool about opera, which also sets it apart from other forms of theater, is that the singers are not given microphones. They simply must be loud enough to sing over the orchestra and reach the last row. Believe me they WERE. Marcello, who played Calàf, was an incredible tenor, who had performed the role before. He had an amazing voice, and even when the entire chorus was singing, you could hear his high notes. The opera was about a Chinese princess, Turandot, who makes every suitor who comes to claim her answer a series of riddles before they attain her hand in marriage. Up to this point many had failed and suffered death as the consequence. But Calàf insisted to try for Turandot, despite the diffident cries from Liù and his estranged deposed father king. Calàf cries "Turandot" three times, to signify interest in her as his wife. In the second act, she asks him three riddles. The first is, "What is born each night but dies each dawn?" Calàf correctly says, "Hope." The frazzled princess proceeds to her second riddle, "What flickers red and warm like flame but is not fire?" Calàf again correctly answers, "Blood." The princess asks her final and most difficult question, "What is like ice, but burns like fire?" After a moment of hesitation so heavy everyone in the audience was on edge, Calàf has an epiphany and correctly cries, "Turandot!" Turandot falls to her father's knees, and begs him not to make her marry the prince. However, he insists that an oath is sacred, and it is Turandot's obligation to marry him. The prince interjects a deal. If the princess can discover his name by morning, he will accept death. Turandot accepts, and that is the end of act two. In Act Three, Turandot is desperate to discover the prince's name. Since she saw Liù and Timur talking to him, she believes they must know his name. Liu refuses to give up his name despite being tortured. The princess in impressed by her resolve and asks her how her heart is so strong. Liù responds, "Princess, it is love!" Liù then seizes a dagger and stabs herself, dying at the prince's feet. Everybody leaves, leaving Turandot and the prince alone, he tries to convice her to love him, but she pushes him away, until he kisses her. Then she feels herslef turning towards a passion for him. The opera ends with her declaring his name to be "Love!" After seeing this opera at the met, I did a little research on the background of it. Apparently, when Puccini wrote this, it was paralleling events in his own life. For his wife accused him of having an affair with his servant Doria. She was driven so mad that Doria committed suicide. This parallels the plot line of Liù very closely. I also read that the opera receied mixed reviews mostly due to the under development of the relationship between Turandot and Calàf. Critics claimed that it was merely a physical attraction on both sides that brought about their relationship. This got me thinking about two things. One was that many plays, movies, and books throughout history have a similar theme regarding love. Usually, it is quick passionate love that could only stem from a brief physical attraction; Romeo and Juliet, Le Grand Meaulnes, and Titanic all came to my mind. The other thought I had regarded my reading. I am currently reading "Opera: 101" by Fred Plotkin, who talks about "opera snobs." Well, I got an earful from a trio of opera snobs sitting a row behind me. During the entire intermission they complained about the length of the intermission, the Italian pronunciation, the singing, etc... Plotkin predicted it; there is always someone who has heard it sung better or done better: someone who thinks they know best. So, all together I learned a lot from going to the opera, a little opera history as well as opera culture. I can't wait for the next one I get to see!