Music World

Puccini’s Turandot

By Vera Tilson

June 2009

Auermann as a princess Turandot in Puccini’s Turandot.

Washington National Opera brought an exceptional production of Puccini’s “Turandot” to the Kennedy Center’s Opera House. For me, director Andrei Serban’s 25-year-old staging was a revelation of imaginative re-thinking of the opera.

Puccini’s ability to create soaring melodies and touching harmony really inspired Serban to surround the characters with action yet allow them to have some real life as they were surrounded by the trappings of an ancient Chinese court.

Russian dramatic soprano Maria Guleghina managed to make the role of Turandot, the Chinese princess, who icily kept men from courting her by three questions that they must answer or die, a real person frightened of commitment. Unfortunately, I found her voice to have the harshness that I have associated with a different generation of Russian singers, not like younger singers such as Anna Netrebko with their beautiful sounds.

Dario Volonté sang an acceptable Calaf with the famous aria “Nessun Dorma” that had been Pavarotti’s signature piece. Vocally, however, the most touching singing came from Sabina Cvilak as Liu and Morris Robinson as Timur.
 
Washington Concert Opera ended the season on Sunday night, May 31, with the spectacular singing of another Italian opera called “Il Giuramento” (The Oath) by a contemporary of Rossini named Saverio Mercadante. The genius of conductor Antony Walker has been to unearth these operas and make you love them because of the high quality of the performances — singers and orchestra alike.

Washington favorites, soprano Elizabeth Futral and baritone Donnie Ray Albert, delivered performances of the expected high level but tenor James Valenti and mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó proved to be real discoveries.

A final word: all the arts are suffering financially and there is no bailout for the arts. The Baltimore Opera had to declare bankruptcy and even the prestigious Chicago Symphony had to cut musician’s salaries.

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