Turadot 图兰朵

1st September :: Monday :: Evening

Turandot

Synopsis:
The story of Turandot was taken from the Persian collection of stories called The Book of One Thousand and One Days. Set in ancient Peking, Turandot is about a beautiful but cold Chinese princess who has a grudge against men, especially princes, after traumatised by the fate of her ancestor who was raped and murdered by conquerors. To woo her, potential suitors have to correctly answer three riddles. Failure to answer correctly will lead to a public execution. The story revolves around one Prince Calaf, who falls in love at first sight with the princess and stakes his life in his pursuit for the princess’ love.

Review:
Composed by the famed Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, Turandot is his second opera which follows an oriental theme. With elaborate costumes and well-design set, Turandot opened with much anticipation from the audience.

However, the opening was weak, with the singing barely audible. However, with the appearance of Timur, Liu and Calaf, things started looking better.

Lee Jae Wook was majestic as Calaf while the role of the loyal and virtuous Liu was well played out by Nancy Yuen. Jae Wook’s stage presence commands attention and his voice strong and unwavering.

The surprise, at least to me, for the evening was the joyful performance by Brent Allcock, Melvin Tan and Lamuel dela Cruz as the ministers Ping, Pang and Pong. Their well-choreographed antics was simply a delight to watch, bringing comedy relief to the otherwise serious opera.

The climax of the show is definately when Calaf broke out in Nessun dorma (None shall sleep tonight ), at the start of ACT III. As one of the best known tenor arias in all operas, Nessun dorma has been performed by all of the three tenors.

Conclusion:
While the performance is definately a woot, the storyline towards the end wasn’t quite to my taste. What left me feeling frustrated and perplexed is the behaviour of Calaf after Liu has died to keep his secret. While I can understand that Calaf holds an insane obsession for Turandot, his seemingly nonchalance to Liu’s death made me wonder if Turandot is the only one who is cold-hearted in the story. Likewise, how Turandot had a 180 degree change in personality after a kiss from Calaf was equally incomprehensible to me.

Cast:
Jessica Chen, Turandot
Lee Jae Wook, Calaf
Nancy Yuen, Liu
Brent Allcock, Ping
Melvin Tan, Pang
Lamuel dela Cruz, Pong