Photo from http://themadscene.athenarts.com./
For the unfamiliar, Turandot is a princess (the name Turandot is actually Persian meaning ‘“the daughter of Turan”, Turan being a region of Central Asia which used to be part of the Persian Empire’ – quoted from Wikipedia – hence Turandot is really a Middle Eastern story, but set in China in the context of the opera) who is to be married but has lost faith in all men as her previous lover jilted her. Hence she declares that whoever wishes to marry her must answer her three riddles correctly, otherwise they would not only fail to receive her hand in marriage, but they will be put to death! Only the prince, Calaf, succeeds with all the right answers. This makes Turandot even more aghast, because now she has to give herself to a man – when she is still unable to trust men! This time it is Calaf’s turn to puzzle her: he bids her to uncover his name (his identity is still a mystery to the princess) before sunrise. If she is successful, he will then face death if Turandot wants him to, and the princess will not have to be attached to him.
The whole country turns desperate – the monarchy threatens death if Calaf’s name is not discovered. Calaf’s blind father, Timur, as well as his maid, Liu (who deeply loves Calaf) are apprehended and brought to the palace, for they are the likely people to know Calaf’s name. Liu refuses to divulge the information as she knows Prince Calaf will have to die once Turandot learns of his name before sunrise, hence she kills herself in the name of love for Calaf. When Timur hears about Liu’s death, he lambastes the brutality that had driven Liu to kill herself. Everyone mourns for Liu’s passing. Even Calaf reproaches the princess for her lack of compassion. Yet he tries to inject warmth and love into the icy-cold, unyielding princess. The princess softens. In the moment of passion, he reveals who he is, thus fulfilling the promise he had given Turandot that he will gladly die if the princess desires.
So you can guess: it is happily ever after!
However, Giacomo Puccini, the composer, failed to complete scoring for the entire opera – this work was to be his last. Franco Alfano was given the task of completing the rest of the opera, and as we all know, it is hard to fill the original composer’s shoes and his work has generated much controversy. Some conductors have refused to perform his version, like Toscanini, who stopped the performance once the orchestra played till the portion where Puccini himself had stopped composition. Contemporary composers have also tasked themselves to write their own versions of the remaining parts of the opera based on the libretto (the text of the opera) that had been written prior before Puccini himself had set out to compose.
The most famous aria from Turandot has to be ‘Nessun Dorma’ (‘None Shall Sleep’), popularised by the Three Tenors during when the World Cup was being hosted by Italy in 1990. Calaf sings this after he gives Turandot his puzzle to uncover his name.
Reference for the synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turandot
