Turandot Synopsis - The Story of Puccini's Famous Opera Turandot Synopsis Turandot Synopsis The Story of Puccini's Famous Opera The Swedish soprano Erika Sunnegardh as the title character in Puccini's 'Turandot' at the Metropolitan Opera House on Saturday night, April 21, 2007. Within the opera's 3rd act, you'll hear one of the most famous arias of all time, "Nessun Dorma.". Photo by Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images April 25, 1926 - La Scala, Milan More Puccini Opera Synopses: Puccini’s opera, Turandot, takes place in ancient Peking, China. Turandot, ACT 1 In a crowded quarter nestled near the Forbidden City, a man announces an edict, saying that any prince wanting to marry Princess Turandot will first need to answer three riddles. If he answers all three correctly, he will marry Turandot. If he fails, he will die. The Prince of Persia is her latest suitor.

His fate was sealed prior to the opera's opening events; he failed to answer Princess Turnadot's riddles and now must die at moonrise. Citizens within the busy quarter, eager for bloodshed and entertainment, chant and urge the executioner to carry out his dark deed. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the mob, a slave girl named Liu suddenly cries for help when her elderly master, Timur, is pushed to the ground. continue reading below our video 5 Urban Myths That Rule the Ages She fears Timur is in danger of being trampled to death. Out of the shadows comes a strapping young man to aid them. He instantly recognizes Timur as his long-lost father, the deposed king of Tartary (which is now occupied by Chinese rulers). Afraid for his own life, Prince Calaf tells Timur to never say his name out loud. Both men are still running from the enemies who vanquished them from their own kingdom. Timur tells Prince Calaf that Liu has been his only faithful servant. When Prince Calaf asks her why, she tells him it was because Calaf once smiled upon her many years ago.

As the moon rises high in the sky, the Prince of Persia is brought to the place of his execution. The crowd falls deathly silent. Taken aback by his good looks and kind demeanor, the crowd, along with Prince Calaf, shouts for compassion and pleas for sparing the young man's life. Princess Turandot arrives, and unaffected by their cries, orders his execution with a swift and precise hand gesture. Prince Calaf falls completely head over heels for Princess Turandot upon seeing her for the first time. Losing all thought of the current situation, he proclaims his love for the princess and shouts her name three times as the Prince of Persia is heard giving his last cry before losing his head. Prince Calaf is determined to win Princess Turandot as his bride. As is customary for each potential suitor, Prince Calaf rushes to the ceremonial gong to signal his entry into the "contest." Three of Turandot's ministers (Ping, Pong, and Pang) try convincing Prince Calaf to change his mind - they do not want any more blood to be spilled. Timur and Liu attempt to talk Prince Calaf out of it, too.

It seems Liu is the only one that to get through to Prince Calaf by confessing her love for him. To their dismay, even that is not enough to stop Prince Calaf. He bangs the gong and Turandot accepts his challenge. Turandot, ACT 2 Wishing to be free of Princess Turandot's bloody reign, Ping, Pang, and Pong are in their quarters before sunrise reminiscing and telling stories of their past lives. They also share stories of Princess Turandot's previous (and unfortunate) suitors. Their time is cut short, however, as the palace trumpets sound. Princess Turandot's ceremony is about to begin. The townspeople gather under the warm morning sun to witness Prince Calaf attempt the impossible. Before Princess Turandot appears, her father takes his seat on the throne. Even the king begs Prince Calaf to walk away from the challenge. Again, Calaf refuses. Princess Turandot arrives and addresses the curious crowd by telling them a story of her ancestor, Princess Lou-Ling. Lou-Ling was brutally murdered by a conquering prince.

To avenge her death, Turandot explains she has turned against all men, and no man shall ever possess her. Her first riddle is told: "What is born each night and dies at dawn?" "Hope!" Prince Calaf declares. Turadot, unaffected, asks her second riddle: "What flickers red and warm like a flame, yet is not fire?" "Blood." Calaf is right again. This time, the princess becomes unnerved. No suitor has proceeded this far. She asks her third riddle: "What is like ice yet burns?" Silence falls over the crowd. A few moments later, Calaf shouts, "Turandot!" He is right again. The crowd cheers and congratulates Calaf, thankful his life was not lost and future lives of potential suitors were saved. Princess Turandot suddenly becomes aware of her reality and pleads with her father to release her from marrying Prince Calaf, who is nothing more than some stranger to her. Her father refuses. Prince Calaf, in order to calm her emotions, gives her a riddle of his own. If she answers correctly, he will agree to a death sentence. If she answers incorrectly, she will have to marry him.

She accepts Prince Calaf's deal. The prince's riddle is this: "What is his name?" He gives her until dawn to deliver her answer. Turandot, ACT 3 That evening, within the palace garden, Prince Calaf hears the decree that no one in Peking will sleep until Turandot learns the name of her suitor. If she does not learn his name, everyone in the city will be killed. Prince Calaf sings the famous aria, Nessun Dorma ("Nobody Shall Sleep"). The three ministers try to bribe Prince Calaf to withdraw his bargain, but again, they are unsuccessful. Mobs take hold of Prince Calaf and threaten him with daggers, and Liu and Timur are dragged in by soldiers. The prince tries to convince the mob that only he himself knows his name. When Turandot arrives, Liu, faithful to Timur, cries out that only she knows the stranger's name. Turandot orders her to be tortured, but Liu refuses to tell the secret. Impressed by Liu's loyalty, Turandot asks Liu how she is able to remain silent. "Love," answers Liu. Turandot spitefully commands her soldiers to increase the severity of Liu's torture.

In that moment, fearing Prince Calaf may intervene and get himself killed, Liu grabs one of the soldier's daggers and kills herself. Timur and the crowd follow Liu's body as it is carried away. The only people remaining are Prince Calaf and Turandot. He calls her the Princess of Death, yet forcefully kisses her. Turandot begins to weep, for that was the first time she has ever been kissed. Prince Calaf then tells her his true name. With Prince Calaf sitting on the throne, Turandot approaches and turns around to face the crowd. She tells them that the stranger's name is "Love." Turandot | The Opera 101 The Opera 101 Fill out the fields below to contact us! Your name * Quiz About Turandot is Puccini’s final opera (unfinished at his death) and perhaps as a result, it is by far and away his most musically adventurous. As in Madama Butterfly , the score is filled with Asian touches, the percussion section in particular packed with gongs and various tuned instruments (xylophones, glockenspiels and the like).

It is still, however, an Italian opera with the outrageously titled Ping, Pang and Pong a spin on classic Commedia dell’arte characters. Turandot at the Royal Opera House It’s an opera that blends epic chorus passages with some brilliantly intimate moments. Indeed the chorus plays a much more significant role than in Puccini’s other operas, acting as an onstage witness to well over half of the action. The opening is a powerful series of five chords, said to musically depict an executioner’s axe falling, and that hair-raising effect is spectacularly well maintained throughout. The Opening of Turandot Turandot also contains arguably the most famous tenor aria in all of opera, "Nessun Dorma", an instantly recognizable piece of music that has lost its dark meaning by being repeatedly considered out of context. The conclusion stretches incredulity even by operatic standards, but as Puccini didn’t write it, he can’t be blamed! Characters Formerly king of Tartary. Currently old and blind. Synopsis Act I - Running Time: 35 mins The curtain rises on a surging crowd. A mandarin announces that anyone wishing to marry Princess Turandot must answer three riddles. Failure means death.

The Prince of Persia has just failed and will be executed when the moon rises. The bloodlust of the crowd is dealt with brutally by the palace guards, and Timur, a blind, old man is knocked to the ground. Liu, his slave, cries out for help and Calaf comes to their aid. As luck would have it Calaf is Timur’s son! Timur was king of Tartary, making Calaf a prince, but has long been deposed. Only Liu has remained faithful to him. Calaf warns them not to mention his name as he fears being discovered by the Emperor. Turandot at the Forbidden City Calaf (Jose Cura) © Johan Persson/Royal Opera As the moon rises the Prince of Persia is led to his death. The crowd appeals in his favor but Turandot appears and signals for the execution to continue. Calaf sees Turandot and falls in love. The Prince of Persia is executed. Blinded by Turandot’s beauty, Calaf is about to rush forward and bang the gong, signaling that he wishes to take the riddles, when Ping, Pang and Pong appear.

The jaunty threesome tell him not to risk it, as do Timur and Liu, the latter being not very secretly in love with Calaf. Calaf is touched but never the less runs forward shouting Turandot’s name and bangs the gong three times. Turandot accepts his challenge as the curtain falls on Act I. Act II - Running Time: 50 mins Scene 1 Ping, Pang and Pong discuss their place in society, interspersing humor - do we prepare for a wedding or a funeral - and nostalgia - we are living in an era of endless death. A trumpet sounds announcing the entrance of the Emperor. Scene 2 The Emperor asks Calaf to withdraw his challenge. Turandot emerges and begins to describe why no man may possess her. (This is actually the first music she sings in the opera.) Her ancestor Princess Lo-u-Ling ruled until she was raped and murdered by a foreign prince, and Turandot believes Lo-u-Ling lives in her. Out of revenge, no man will ever have her. She advises Calaf to withdraw but he is having none of it. She gives the three riddles... What is born each night and dies each dawn?

What flickers red and warm like a flame, but is not fire? What is like ice, but burns like fire? ...each of which he correctly answers. Turandot is distraught at having to marry and pleads with her father, but he insists that she go through with it. Calaf, believing love will win out, gives her one possible escape: he is a prince and if she can learn his name before sunrise, then he will die at dawn. Turandot accepts and the curtain falls - the Emperor hoping the Prince will be his son. Act III - Running Time: 40 mins Scene 1 Turandot has commanded that no one sleep until the Prince’s name is discovered. Everyone will be killed if they don’t learn the name and she has to marry. Calaf awaits the dawn, and while he’s at it sings a ditty called "Nessun Dorma" (you’ve probably heard it before). Placido Domingo sings "Nessun Dorma" Ping, Pang and Pong turn up and try to buy off Calaf with women and riches. He is not interested. They then drag in Timur and Liu but Calaf pretends he knows nothing about them.

They get roughed up a bit, and suddenly Liu, to protect Timur, claims that she alone knows the Prince’s name but will not give it up. She is tortured but still refuses. Turandot asks why she would suffer such pain and she answers love. Turandot doesn’t think much of this answer so she has Liu tortured further. Liu tells Turandot that she will soon learn love before promptly taking a dagger off a soldier and stabbing herself. As Liu falls dead Timur must be informed since he is blind, and he cries out in sadness. The crowd and he leave with the body of Liu. Calaf chastises Turandot for effectively slaughtering the heart and soul of the opera and then pulls her in and kisses her. (At this point Puccini finishes and Alfano takes over). After the kiss Turandot is horrified but gradually she softens. She reveals that she has always (since Act I at least) both hated and loved the Prince. She tells him to leave, but he bravely reveals his name: “I am Calaf, son of Timur.” His life sits in her hands...

Scene 2 Predictably but rather unbelievably - not to mention mawkishly - the couple approach the emperor and Turandot announces that she knows the Prince’s name and it is love. Everyone is happy and the opera ends to the tune of "Nessun Dorma". Turandot finale in MET's Zeffirelli production © Marty Sohl/Met Opera Major Arias Tu che di gel sei cinta Liu Where in the World Turandot takes place in fictional ancient China. Peking is specified (marked in Red), which is the old name for Beijing, but it might as well be set in Shanghai for all the geographical detail. Story Origins Nizami Ganjavi The story of Turandot originates in a French collection of fairy tales by François Pétis de la Croix “Les mille et un jours” translated into English as “The thousand and one days”. You might know “One thousand and one nights” or the “Arabian Nights” from which we acquired Aladdin, Sinbad, Ali Baba and host of other famous tales. These collections shouldn’t be confused however, “Nights” is made up of genuine Middle Eastern stories compiled in Arabic over centuries. “Days” has a more dubious provenance.

In many cases these stories only exist in de la Croix’s rendering leading some to believe he might have conjured them up himself. If Turandot has a precursor it is a 12th Century work by the Azerbaijani poet and philosopher Nizami Ganjavi “Seven Beauties”. In any case, Puccini arrived at the text through a Schiller play that was in turn a German version of an Italian commedia dell'arte by Carlo Gozzi who took the story from the de la Croix. Puccini was first introduced to the text in an Italian translation of the Schiller by Andrea Maffei who is perhaps most famous for writing the libretto to Verdi’s I masnadieri. Puccini wasn’t the first composer to get to it either. Antonio Bazzini wrote Turanda in 1867, Ferruccio Busoni Turandot in 1917 only a few years before Puccini began his. Puccini had not heard Busoni’s version but Bazzini had been a teacher of Puccini’s in Milan.

History Puccini was always a fastidious and deliberate composer, but the writing of Turandot was an especially drawn out process. In the four years before his death, Puccini vacillated over the number of acts, whether or not he should turn his attention to something less serious, and absolutely fixated over the final love duet that he believed was the essential, earth-shattering culmination of the entire evening. Despite these circumstances, he poured himself into the work, writing to a friend in March 1924, “I have placed, in this opera, all my soul.” Premiere Program from La Scala Turandot premiered at La Scala in Milan on 25 April 1926, almost a year and a half after Puccini’s death. Puccini’s friend Arturo Toscanini, who had worked on the score with the composer during the last months of Puccini’s life, conducted the premiere. As is widely recorded, when the opera reached the last note written by Puccini, Toscanini ended the performance.

What he said at the time has been variously reported, from the poetic “Here death triumphed over art” to the poigniant “For me, the work ends here.” An eyewitness quoted in a recent biography puts it somewhere between the two: “Here ends the opera, because at this point the maestro was dead.” The Alfano version was presented the following night. Fun Facts Popular? Birgit Nilsson as Turandot The 16th most performed opera in the world from 2007-2012, according to Operabase. This frequency was not always the case. Beginning in 1930, Turandot was not performed for more than three decades at the Met, after Maria Jeritza, who premiered the role there, sang her last of 23 Turandots. It did not return until 1961 when Birgit Nilsson took on the princess, a role she owned in New York until 1970, singing it 52 times.

The long break was due at least partly to a dearth of sopranos capable of singing the difficult title role, a criteria which some opera lovers of a certain age feel should be applied today to any role ever sung by Maria Callas. In China Until the end of the 20th century, Turandot was banned in the People’s Republic of China because the government felt the opera portrayed China unfavourably. The ban ended in style, with an epic performance in 1998 given in the Forbidden City, the home of actual Chinese emperors until they stopped having them in 1912. The production was originally staged and conducted in Florence, Italy, by Zubin Mehta and Chinese film director Zhang Yimou (who later directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics). A documentary called “The Turandot Project” tells how the production eventually came to China and how it was adapted.

There is also a video of the actual concert (you can see a clip in the synopsis), with the snappy title “Turandot at the Forbidden City of Beijing.” Vincero The second syllable of vincerò, “I will win,” is a high B, near the top of most tenors’ ranges and a nice note for them to show off. As the Ricordi vocal score shows, that B is really just a sixteenth note, a grace note. The final syllable, on A, is supposed to be held, although again not nearly as long as it generally is by the large-lunged tenors of today. While Lucciano Pavarotti may be credited with popularizing this basking in high-B land, the trend actually goes much further back. In fact, one of the few (if not the only) tenors to end the aria the way Puccini wrote it is Francesco Merli, heard here from the first complete recording of Turandot, done in 1938. Compare with Pavarotti, live from San Francisco in 1977.

options font-size=14 width=400 space=20 player=true tempo=60 accidentals=standard tabstave notation=true tablature=false notes :8d B/4 :16 D/5 | :hd G/5 :8d D/5 :16 B/5 | :w A/5 Francesco Merli sings Nessun Dorma, 1938 Pavarotti sings Nessun Dorma, 1977 The Ending How to end Turandot remains an ongoing problem. After Puccini’s death, his friend Arturo Toscanini, who would conduct the premiere, suggested the task of finishing the opera be given to the young composer Franco Alfano. Alfano had piles of Puccini’s sketches from which to work, but much of it was difficult to decipher, including the intriguing note regarding the love duet “Then Tristan...” referring to Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde, which ends absolutely breathtakingly as the soprano transfigures in a love-death to be with her true love who has already died.

An edited version of Alfano’s ending, which no one really finds satisfactory, pretty much rules opera houses today, although in 2001 the Italian composer Luciano Berio, produced a version that many critics feel should supplant the Alfano version. Among other attempts were Janet Maguire’s rather less successful go in the 1970s and Chinese composer Hao Weiya (see the Mo Li Hua fun fact). Mo Li Hua The Jasmine Flower song, or Mo Li Hua, was one of several traditional Chinese tunes that Puccini incorporated into the score of Turandot. He likely heard the piece on a music box belonging to his friend Baron Alberto Fassini. It is still sufficiently popular that it is a track on Disney's Baby Einstein: World Music album. It was also the tune used by Chinese composer Hao Weiya to end the opera in his 2008 attempt at (another) new ending. That latest attempt was, perhaps not surprisingly, adored by the Chinese press but probably will not supplant the Alfano ending any time soon.

Mo Li Hua from Baby Einstein: World Music In Brief Librettist Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni Language Italian Date of premiere April 25, 1926 Number of Acts 3 Turandot | Operas | Season And Tickets | Opera Carolina Click here to download the libretto for turandot Synopsis Foolishly believing she has escaped the grasp of love, Turandot stains Beijing's Imperial Palace with a bloody reign. The arrival of the mysterious stranger who inspires her fall is as gloriously mesmerizing as she is ruthless. The premiere of Turandot was at La Scala, Milan, on Sunday April 25, 1926 – one year and five months after Puccini's death. Accessibility Options English Supertitles Provided During The Performance Act I Beijng, legendary times. In a quarter swarming with people near the Forbidden City, a Mandarin reads an edict: any prince seeking to marry Princess Turandot must answer three riddles - and if he fails, he will die. Her latest suitor, the Prince of Persia, is to be executed at the rise of the moon.

Bloodthirsty citizens urge the executioner on, and in the tumult a slave girl, Liù, calls out for help when her aged master is pushed to the ground. A handsome youth recognizes him as his long-lost father, Timur, vanquished king of Tartary. When the old man tells his son, Prince Calàf, that only Liù has remained faithful to him, the prince asks her why. She replies it is because once, long ago, Calàf smiled on her. The condemned Prince of Persia passes on the way to execution, moving the onlookers to call upon Turandot to spare his life. Turandot appears and, with a contemptuous gesture, orders that the execution proceed. Calàf, consumed by Turandot’s beauty, determines to win her as his bride, rushing to sound the gong that announces the arrival of each new suitor. Turandot's ministers Ping, Pang and Pong try to stop the prince, their warnings are supplemented by those of Timur and Liù. Despite their pleas, Calàf strikes the gong as he calls out the name of Turandot. Act II Scene one.

In their quarters, Ping, Pang and Pong lament their lives as ministers of death under Turandot's bloody reign. They pray that love will conquer her icy heart so peace can return. As the people gather to hear Turandot question the new challenger, the ministers are called back to harsh reality. Scene two. Emperor Altoum offers the latest suitor, an Unkown Prince (Calàf) one final chance to give up his quest, but in vain. Turandot enters and tells the story of her ancestor Princess Lou-Ling -- brutally slain by a conquering prince. In revenge Turandot has turned against all men, determining that none shall ever possess her. She poses her riddles to the Unknown Prince, who answers each one with confidence. The ministers proclaim he has answered all three riddles correctly, and while the crowd gives thanks, the princess begs her father not to abandon her to a stranger. The Emperor refuses to release her from her sacred oath. The Unknown Prince, however, offers Turandot a riddle of his own: “Tell me my name by dawn, and at dawn you may kill me”.

Act III Late at night, in a palace garden, Calàf hears a proclamation: “On pain of death, no one shall sleep until the stranger's name is learned”. In the famous aria “Nessun dorma (no one may sleep) the prince muses on the joy the morning will bring. The mob threatens Calàf with in order to learn his name. Soldiers drag in Liù and Timur who witnesses saw earlier in the day with the prince. Horrified, Calàf tries to convince the mob that neither knows his secret. When Turandot appears, commanding the dazed Timur to speak, Liù cries out that she alone knows the stranger's identity. Through all the tortures of the guards she remains silent. Shaken by the resolve of this slave girl, Turandot asks why Liù would sacrifice herself in this way -- "For love," she replies; and this simple reply shakes Turandot. When the princess signals the soldiers to intensify the torture, Liù snatches a dagger from one of them and kills herself.

The grieving Timur and the crowd follow her body as it is carried away.* Turandot remains alone to confront Calàf, who at length takes her in his arms, forcing her to kiss him. Knowing physical passion for the first time, Turandot weeps. The prince, now sure of his victory, tells her his name. As the people hail the emperor, Turandot approaches his throne, announcing that the stranger's name is - Love. *here Puccini stopped composing, passing away a few short months afterwards. Meet the Composer Kirov Opera: Turandot - The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Kirov Opera: Turandot Sunday, February 19, 2006 - Saturday, February 25, 2006 Set in the Forbidden City of Peking, Puccini's lavish opera follows the story of a beautiful yet icy-hearted princess, whose suitors must answer three riddles or perish. Price: This event has already closed. Please use the event calendar to search for current events.

About Valery Gergiev, Artistic Director and Conductor Set in the Forbidden City of Peking, Puccini's lavish opera follows the story of the beautiful yet icy-hearted Turandot, a legendary princess whose suitors must answer three riddles or perish. When a daring young prince resolves to win her, he unleashes a gripping test of sacrifice upon his family and the masses, including a young slave girl who loves him from afar. Sung in Italian with English Supertitles.

CASTING KALAF: Vladimir Galuzin; TURANDOT: Irina Gordei; LIU: Irma Gigolashvili (2/19 & 23), Tatiana Pavlovskaya (2/25); PANG: Alexander Timchenko; PING: Andrei Spekhov; PONG: Andrei Ilyushnikov; TIMUR: Gennady Bezzubenkov (2/19), Mikhail Kit (2/23 & 25); EMPEROR: Viktor Vikhrov; MANDARIN: Edem Umerov; PERSIAN PRINCE: Daniil Shtoda; MUSICAL PREP.: Alla Brosterman Resources Turandot - San Diego Opera Turandot Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni Based on the play Turandotte by Carlo Gozzi First performance at La Scala, Milan, Italy on April 25, 1926 Sung in Italian with English Supertitles Time and Place: China in legendary times THE CAST Timur, banished Tartar king, bass Liù, a slave girl, soprano Ai-Lan Zhu (China) Unknown Prince (Cal

àf), Timur's son, tenor Dario Volonté (Argentina)* Princess Turandot of China, soprano Ping, Grand Chancellor of China, baritone Scott Hendricks(USA)* Pang, Supreme lord of provisions, tenor Beau Palmer (USA) + Pong, Lord of the Imperial Kitchen, tenor Joseph Hu (Taiwan)+ The Prince of Persia, actor tba Director Lotfi Mansouri (Iran) Turandot's ladies, Imperial guards, executioner and henchmen, children, priests, mandarins, dignitaries, eight wise men, servants, soldiers, flag bearers, musicians, ghosts of the dead, crowds * San Diego Opera debut + San Diego Opera Ensemble alumnus Production from San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Set Designer: David Hockney, Costumes: Ian Falconer Estimated running time approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes with two intermissions PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Edoardo Müller = ed-WARH-doh MEOOL-ler Giacomo Puccini = JAH-koh-moh pooch-CHEE-nee *While these names are usually written without accent marks, the music clearly indicates that, in each case, the accent is on the final syllable. Puccini and Turandot The Beginning In 1920 Puccini was searching for a new topic for an opera. He had seen Oliver Twist in London and was considering both it and a story involving one of the characters in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Adami and Simoni started a libretto for the Dickens piece to be called Fanny. (Dickens’s Nancy would not sound right in Italian). However, Puccini was not pleased with what they produced; he wanted something new, perhaps based on a fairy tale.

As Adami tells it, one day, at a lunch with Puccini, Simoni and himself, Gozzi’s plays were mentioned and Puccini suggested Turandot which he had either seen or been told of in Germany in a translation by Karl Vollmoeller with incidental music by Busoni (Busoni’s complete opera was later.) Puccini would also have known Bazzini’s Turanda, and he had a copy of Andrea Maffei’s Italian translation of Schiller’s German version of Gozzi’s play. He gave it to Puccini to read on a train ride to Rome, and it was not until some time later that Gozzi’s original was consulted.. This story is apocryphal. In fact, Simoni had already adapted Gozzi’s play for the stage, and Puccini and Simoni had discussed the idea a year earlier, including the changes they would make when adapting the play as an opera.

Puccini said: “To exalt the passion of Turandot, who for so long has suffered in the sashes of her great pride...when all is said, I cling to the feeling that Turandot is the least bizarre and most human of Gozzi’s theatre pieces”. He also told Simoni it would be: “a Turandot through the modern mind, yours, Adami’s, and mine”. Composition Puccini spent the last four years of his life on the composition of Turandot, years of delays and frustrations. His reaction to an early version of the first act libretto was not good. There were too many details of Chinese life; it was more like a scholarly lecture on China. Eventually the first act took shape but there many delays after that. Should there be two or three acts? Should Liù die and, if so, how? How could all of Gozzi’s complications be adapted for the shorter operatic version? Many letters were exchanged discussing these questions and because of long delays in finishing the libretto. Adami and Simoni had separate careers and other responsibilities, and because of his health, Puccini found it more and more difficult to work.

At times he despaired and considered giving up the project altogether. Nevertheless, he showed his usual thoroughness in researching the background, especially the Chinese music and instruments. He visited the villa of Baron Fassini-Camossi in Bagni di Lucca where he heard authentic Chinese instruments and got detailed descriptions so they could be duplicated as props. The orchestra is the largest Puccini ever used and Toscanini was a frequent consultant on the orchestration. At a meeting of the two near the end, Toscanini was very disturbed by Puccini’s appearance. The Ending The final duet had been a problem from the beginning. What should it be like after the death of Liù? Puccini wrote that “[it should be] the key — but it should have something about it of the grand, the bold, the unexpected, and not leave things where they began”. It had to represent the triumph of love over everything. “These two beings, who stand...outside the world, are transformed into humans through love, and this love must take possession of everybody on the stage in an orchestral peroration”. He also directed that Calàf should kiss Turandot “with a passion which would melt her”.

Although it is frequently stated that the end of the opera was unfinished at Puccini’s death, he had finished detailed sketches. The text of the love duet was done with some notes on the music and with six pages of vocal score. Only the orchestration was unfinished when he left for Brussels. He took the score with him but had a premonition and said, “My opera will be given incomplete, and then someone will come on the stage and say to the public: ’At this point, the composer died!&lrquo;. Toscanini was given the responsibility for overseeing the finishing of the work. He wanted the composer Zandonai to finish the orchestration but Puccini’s son insisted on someone less famous. The task went to Franco Alfano. He had Puccini’s sketches and vocal score to work from but was not able to see Puccini’s orchestration for the rest of the opera. He spent six months on the task only to have his work severely criticized by Toscanini. A bitter Alfano said he might as well resign as director of the Turin conservatory and take composition lessons from Toscanini, but he shaved his original 377 measures down to 268.

(After the initial production he cut an additional 100 measures.) Première Turandot finally opened on April 25, 1926, seventeen months after the composer’s death. Rehearsals had been stormy and the singers were all different from those Puccini had wanted. Giovacchino Forzano, who stage the première was the Franco Zeffirelli of his time, used to directing operatic and cinematic extravaganzas. The detailed production book still exists so we know many details about it. Mussolini was invited by La Scala to attend the première, and he accepted on the condition that the Fascist hymn Giovinezza be played at the beginning. Toscanini was a staunch anti-Fascist and gave La Scala an ultimatum. He would quit if the hymn was played! It was not played, and Il Duce did not attend! Music overcame politics! One of the papers told its readers the dictator did not attend because he did not want to distract attention from the music of Puccini!

After the death of Liù and the exit of her cortège, Toscanini laid down his baton saying, “Qui finische l’opera, perchè a questo punto il Maestro è morto.” (The opera ends here because at this point the Maestro died). That night the opera did end there, the orchestra and singers having been warned beforehand. Puccini’s prophecy was fulfilled. On subsequent nights Alfano’s ending was given, as it had been during the dress rehearsal. After the initial run, Toscanini never conducted Turandot again. Critics reacted positively but they were confused because they had not heard the ending and thought it was a tragedy. Later Productions The Rome première occurred four days later, and the first performance outside of Italy was in Buenos Aires on June 25, 1926. Turandot reached Germany in September, Austria in October and the Metropolitan Opera in November where the reception was cool. It was not given there again until 1950. In 1982 two scenes and a finale by Alfano were discovered in the publisher’s archives.

Although it had been published in a vocal score and it was sometimes used in early recordings, the original was not again played in its entirety until 1982. When staged by the New York City Opera in 1983 and later by other companies, it was well received. In recent years there have been many elaborate productions including the 1998 one at the Forbidden City in Beijing. Recently a new ending was created by Luciano Berio. He was the founder of the Juilliard Ensemble, had studied at the Milan Conservatory, and wrote many vocal works including operas, the first of which was named “Opera”. Puccini’s estate has sanctioned this ending. It is 307 bars long, and Turandot’s transformation is more gradual and therefore more believable. It ends softly rather than triumphantly, because Berio felt the latter betrays death of Liù. This ending was tried in concert in the Canary Islands and in performances by Los Angeles Opera, the Salzburg Festival, and in Amsterdam. Berio died on May 27, 2003. Turandot has been called , “the end of the Great Tradition” of Italian opera, that is of nineteenth century Italian opera.

It is a “number opera” with big arias and ensembles, more fabulous than verismo and typical of the “grand opera” genre. Yet Puccini was correct when he said it would be a, “Turandot through the modern mind”. While the subject was from a fable, Puccini did give it many realistic touches. In many ways, it truly is a twentieth century opera. Ancient China The Dynasties | Early Legend and History | "Ancient" China | Epilogue INTRODUCTION Present-day China covers a vast area and is protected on the south by the jungles of Indo-China, on the east by the ocean, and on the west by the mountains of Tibet. Only on the north was ancient China vulnerable to invaders, such as the Mongols, or to visitors and traders who, like Marco Polo followed the Silk Road from Europe. However, until the eighteenth century, to most Europeans it was an unknown and enigmatic country,. The setting of the opera Turandot are given simply as "Ancient China", but that covers an enormous time-span.

Traces of humans dating back almost 600,000 BC have been found, possible ancestors of the 400,000-year-old "Peking Man". Some scholars think that man originated separately in China, others that he migrated there from an ultimate source in Africa. Remains of Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) humans, dating from 50,000-35,000 BC, have been found which would have been contemporary with the Cro-Magnon of Europe. THE DYNASTIES Those in red are described in more detail below. Each of these can be accessed directly by clicking on its name. Many are also referred to in other articles which have links to the pertinent information here. Just as Peking is now Beijing, the transliteration of most of the names has changed. Variations are indicated in parentheses. The list is somewhat simplified; China was not always unified and some of the dynasties overlapped. Dates are approximate. People's Republic 1949- EARLY LEGEND AND HISTORY The civilization we know as Chinese began on the Northern Great Plain in the valley of the Yellow River. Like all peoples, the Chinese have their own creation story.

In the beginning was an egg, from which hatched a man named Pangu (P'an Ku). The half of the shell above him became the sky, the one below, the earth. For 18,000 years he grew until the two were as far apart as they are today. Then he collapsed and broke into pieces which became mountains, rivers, etc. His two eyes became the sun and the moon. The lice on his body became men who lived as wild beasts. This happened about 2,229,000 BC. He was followed by three (or twelve) emperors, each of whom also lived 18,000 years; the Celestial Emperors of Heaven, of Earth, and of Mankind. Then came sixteen sovereigns of whom nothing is known but their names. They were followed by the Five Emperors, the first who were human: Huang Di (Ti), Chuan Hsiu, H'u, Yao and Shun. (Other than Huang Di the names vary in different accounts.) They introduced many things of benefit to mankind: agriculture, law, rules of morality and proper religious rituals, music, medicine, weights and measures, silk, etc.

The most revered of all, was Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, regarded as the founder of Chinese civilization. All subsequent kings and princes claimed descent from him. XIA The last of the Five Emperors was followed by Yü, the founder of the legendary Xia (Hsia) Dynasty He built ravines through mountains so the rivers could run to the sea. During his reign, rice wine was discovered, and when he prohibited its use, the Chinese made it the national beverage. While the man and his exploits are legends, archaeology has found urban sites from the period which had bronze implements. SHANG The Xia Dynasty is said to have ended when a degenerate descendant of Yü amused himself by forcing 3,000 Chinese to jump to their death in a lake of wine. He was followed by another descendant of Huang Di who founded the Shang (Yin) Dynasty (ca. 1520-1030 BC). For many years this was also thought to be legendary, but in the 1920s, a discovery was made of inscribed bones, which not only verified the existence of the Shang Dynasty but also gave archaeologists information about it.

The characters on the bones were the ancestors of modern Chinese script and form the missing link between the early representational characters and the modern abstractions. They also wrote on tortoise shells. At that time, only the nobility had family names so only they could trace their ancestors. Without ancestors, a family could not have a shrine to worship them. In their cosmology, the Shang capital was the center of the universe. They called their land "Chung-kuo  The Middle Kingdom". There was a well-developed social system with king, nobles, commoners, slaves and an army with horse-drawn chariots. Their jade and bronze work was of a very high level. Apparently the Shang culture employed human sacrifice, not only to accompany a king in death but in the foundation of a new building where they could serve as its spirit guardians. One structure had several hundred people, with war-chariots and weapons, buried in front of it. As with the Aztecs, most of those sacrificed may have been prisoners of war, with expeditions sent to capture people from more primitive peoples for this purpose.

"ANCIENT CHINA" ZHOU About 1000 BC, the Shang were overthrown by a revolt, aided by the neighboring Zhou (Ch'ou) under the leadership of Wu. Their capital, Chi, was the first one associated with the site of the present-day Beijing. The Zhou leaders called themselves "Sons of Heaven" a title used by all subsequent Chinese rulers. (In prehistoric times the idea arose that all power in sky was conferred on one superman and his successors, giving them the right to rule all men. These were the 'sons of heaven'. In Turandot the Prince addresses the emperor as Figlio del cielo or Son of Heaven). The Zhou Dynasty lasted until 221 BC, about 800 years. The exact date of its establishment is disputed, for the Chinese had no absolute chronological reference such as dates BC and AD. Events were dated from the start of each reign, and started again with each new ruler. It was during the Zhou Dynasty that Chinese philosophy, based on Confucius and others, was born. At one time there were over 1,700 small principalities, very like the Greek city-states.

The small units were particularly vulnerable to attacks from the North and they built walls to protect themselves. Under the Zhou, many of these were amalgamated, and the central government assumed more and more control. However, the kingdom later fell apart and the years from 480-221 BC are known as the "Warring States" period. During this period the theories of yin-yang and the theory of the five elements developed. QIN The first real unification of the empire occurred under the Qin (Ch'in). These people learned the art of fighting on horseback from the nomads of the north, and from the third century BC on, they fought and defeated the Zhou in a series of battles. The Qin Dynasty gave the country its name and its "First Emperor", Qin Shih Huangdi. This is the first time that the title "emperor" (di or ti) was used. The emperor ordered the building of a wall of "ten thousand li" by connecting earlier walls. (2.8 li = 1 mile). This was the first version of what is now the Great Wall, although it really only stretches about 1,500 miles or about 4350 li.

Shih Huangdi went about reorganizing China, replacing the feudal societies with a centralized government. The most powerful families were forced to move to his capital, where they were encouraged to build exact replicas of their other palaces. All weapons were collected and melted down. Standardized systems of weights and measures and of writing were introduced. (The emperor introduced a standard width for the axles of all carts. It has been claimed that this was so all would fit the existing ruts in the road, but this is not likely. If all followed the same ruts, these would soon be so deep the axles would touch the ground.) All peasants were made to work on public projects for a month at a time, and the records which had to be kept to enforce this requirement led to the proletariat finally gaining surnames. On the negative side, Shih Huangdi is notorious for burning the books of all the Confucian scholars. (Exceptions were made for those on medicine, agriculture and divination.) Those who did not destroy their own books were subject to branding and forced labor, often on the Great Wall.

(Because thousands and thousands died, crushed beneath the stones, the wall has been called "the longest cemetery in the world".) Many books escaped confiscation, some because scholars memorized the complete works of Confucian teachers and passed them on orally, but some scholars were rounded up and sentenced to death or exile. In his last years, the emperor feared attacks on his life. He constructed a vast complex of palaces joined by covered passageways, so no one would know where he was, and he tried to find an elixir which would give him eternal life. When he heard of three fairy islands where, because its inhabitants had discovered such an elixir old age and death were unknown, he sent an expedition bearing precious gifts to find these islands. The leader of the expedition returned empty handed. He had found the islands, but the inhabitants didn't want costly gifts, they requested young men and women. The ships sailed again with 3,000 of China's finest young people and was never heard from again. Legend says it was they who colonized Japan.

Like the Egyptian pharaohs, Shih Huangdi started to build his tomb the moment he became king and some 700,000 conscripts worked for 36 years to complete it. It was said that several hundred maidens were buried alive to keep him company, and the workmen who brought the coffin into his tomb were also buried alive to prevent them from revealing its location within the tomb complex. After his death, the empire crumbled, and the dynasty lasted only fourteen more years. His tomb did not stay hidden for long. A century after his death, the Han Dynasty historian Sima-Quan (Ssu-ma-Chi'en) described its desecration in 206 BC and wrote descriptions of the burial complex. They had dug through three subterranean streams and poured molten copper for the outer coffin, and the tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions, and offices, as well as fine vessels, precious stones, and rarities. Artisans were ordered to fix up crossbows so that any thief breaking in would be shot. The Yellow River and the Yangtze were reproduced in quicksilver and by some mechanical means made to flow into a miniature ocean.

The location of the tomb has long been known as a mound called Mount Li on the outskirts of the city of Xian. In 1974 a remarkable discovery was made. Workers in the fields to the east of the mound found interesting artifacts, and when archaeologists dug they found an army! An army of over 8,000 clay soldiers and horses as well as the cemetery for the laborers who had built the tomb. So far there has been no report of the several hundred maidens. The soldiers were arrayed, four abreast, in battalion order, and over 1,000 have been restored and can be seen by visitors. Each is about six feet tall and has a different face. It is thought they were copied from live models. HAN The Han Dynasty which lasted from 207 BC to AD 265, with a short intermission was one of the most productive in the history of China. The Chinese are so proud of it they still call themselves "Han people". The ban on philosophical and historical writings was lifted and men of talent were called upon to restore the lost works and to serve in the government. The Chinese Empire was governed by officials selected on merit, an unusual practice at any time.

Their capital, Ch'ang-an, has been called the first great city in Chinese history. The Imperial Library had over 11,000 books on classics, philosophy, poetry, mathematics, and medicine. Note: Starting with the Han, the reigning emperor was always referred to by a term meaning Emperor. When he attained the crown, his personal name became taboo. When he died he was given a posthumous name and it is by that he is known today. This name ended in ti (di), like Wu-ti. Since Ti means Emperor, it is redundant to refer to the Emperor Wu-ti. From the T'ang on, with the exception of the Mongols, the suffix used is tsu or tsung. China was often subject to invasions by the Hsiung-nu (probably the Huns). THey waged and won repeated wars against them, thus expanding the Empire to include parts of what are now Korea, Manchuria, Turkestan and Indo-China. The Great Wall was extended to the west. One of the most important men of the Han period was not an emperor but a historian, Sima-Qian, the author of the "Historical Records".

Taking him ten years to complete, it is his account of the history of the known world. It includes not only the history of the dynasties, but treatises on topics such as the calendar and economics, and biographies of influential people. His granddaughter wrote a work on the education of women, "Lessons for Women", which emphasized the virtues of women and the proper restriction of their activities. After he died, the Records were continued until 1911. It was during the Han period that the lunar calendar was developed which lasted until 1912. Paper and porcelain also date from this time. With the expansion to the west, caravans could now travel in relative safety from the Middle East to China. This route became known as the Silk Road. Stations along this Silk Road, were fortified, and trade with the West intensified. Oases on the western end were cultivated by people who were not Chinese but related to the Iranians (Persians). (The original Turandot story was from Persia, not China!) The Silk Road started in Antioch and ended at Ch'ang-an. By the first century AD, Chinese silk could be bought in the markets of Rome.

Arabian horses were imported from the Near East and their stock soon proved superior to that of the Mongols. For more on the Silk Road and the cities along it see: . There was also a sea route by which an emissary of the Roman Emperor reached China in AD 166 AD, and it was during the Han Dynasty that the Chinese first made contact with India. Men were appointed to oversee markets, and prices were fixed. Official bankers lent money at a rate of interest of three per cent per month. Income was taxed. Like our returns to the IRS, everyone had to turn in a report on his earning and pay the required tax of about ten percent. Like Egypt, China has its "Valley of the Kings", north of Xian and near the ruins of Ch'ang-an. In it are buried 12 Han rulers. Only the one of Jing Di, the fifth emperor, has been excavated. He was also buried with an army to protect him, but it was less impressive than that of Shih Huang, There are fewer men and they are only two feet tall. Toward the end of the Han period, there were destructive power struggles between the eunuchs, who had gained considerable importance, and the court officials.

Floods alternated with droughts, and peasant rebellions led to the rise of generals who massacred over 2,000 eunuchs and destroyed the capital. The Great Wall could not keep out hordes of "Tatars", or Mongols, who conquered large areas of the north. Soon the Empire was divided into The Three Kingdoms. T'ANG After four hundred years of disunion and weak ruler after weak ruler, a new Dynasty, the T'ang, emerged in AD 618 and formed a government in which the emperor was supreme and officials were once more chosen on the basis of merit. A census, needed to implement a system in which people were drafted to do labor, was taken every three years. Society was organized into a strict hierarchy. At the top of the social scale were nobles; the othere were divided into nine ranks each of which was supported by the taxes of those below it. The highest received the taxes of 10,000 families, the lowest of only 300. The first T'ang emperor started the Grand Canal to join the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers.

Now barges from the south could bring rice to the north, which had previously existed on wheat and millet. The T'ang capital of Ch'ang-an became one of the largest cities of the world. It covered 30 square miles in a grid layout typical of the Chinese. It had two main markets and several parks. A broad avenue, the Street of Heaven, led from the main gate in the south to the Imperial City. This avenue was almost five times as wide as New York's Fifth Avenue. Each of the blocks created by the grid was surrounded by a wall forming a ward. Even the highest officials were expected to dismount at a gateway into a ward. The Emperor's home, the Great Luminous Palace, was set among the hill on the northeast. There was an Imperial College for the training of civil servants, and there were over 10,000 scholars attached to it, all of whom were exempt from taxes. Tourists from India and Europe came to admire it. Buddhist monks came from India to teach, and Chinese Buddhists travelled to India to study their religion at its source.

LIAO The T'ang Dynasty lasted almost three hundred years, but the unfairly burdened common people rose in rebellion after rebellion. By the tenth century China was again divided, with five dynasties in the north and ten kingdoms in the south. The Peking region came under the control of a Mongol people called the Khitan. They set themselves up as a dynasty with the name Liao and called one of their five capitals Yenching, still the literary name for Beijing. Jurchen chieftains from outside united to overthrow the Liao and set up the Jin (Chin) Dynasty. Yenching became their capital SUNG The kingdoms coalesced once more into the Northern (960-1126) and Southern Sung (1126-1279) Dynasties. When the Northern Empire was overrun by people from Manchuria, one son of the emperor escaped and set up the Southern Dynasty. It was during this period that women lost status and, treated as playthings, had their feet bound to make them smaller. This cruel practice was not banned until the twentieth century.

YÜAN (References in Gozzi's Turandot make this the most likely time in which it is set.) Giving themselves up to art and luxurious living, the Sung became easy prey to the powerful Mongols of the northern steppes, led by the formidable Genghis Khan. His grandson, Kublai Khan, moved the Mongol capital to the site of Peking and declared himself emperor of the new Yüan Dynasty. The Mongols replaced the Chinese nobles in the government with their own men and with foreigners such as Marco Polo. After Kublai Khan died, he was succeeded by his grandson Timur, whom Marco Polo described as "a valiant man full of kindness, wise, and prudent". (The name Timur is Middle Eastern.) With Timur's death, the Mongol Empire broke apart. The name of the deposed emperor in Turandot is Timur. One of the most famous of all Timurs was Timur-i-leng or Tamerlane. EPILOGUE MING AND MANCHU Once more the unhappy Chinese revolted. Under the leadership of Chu Yüan-chang, a peasant army reconquered China from the Mongols.

In 1368 Peking fell, Chu Yüan-chang became the first Ming emperor, and China went back to being Chinese. The government was modelled on that of the T'ang, the Forbidden City took its present form, and the Great Wall was strengthened. The Mings were despots, keeping all the power in their own hands. The mandarins had little influence and became cautious and conforming. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, contact with the West had increased. Jesuit missionaries arrived who served the emperors as map makers, calendar reformers and astronomers. Contacts were peaceful and in 200 years the Jesuits attracted 300,000 converts to Christianity. On June 3, 1644 Ch'ing, or Manchu, forces entered Peking and the final Chinese Dynasty began its almost 300 year reign. This dynasty lasted until the 1911 revolution when the last emperor, the boy P'u-yi, was deposed . Although he continued to occupy the Forbidden City for thirteen years, the era of Chinese Dynasties had come to an end. The movie, The Last Emperor, tells his story.

Note: There are many excellent sites on the web on which more can be found about any of the above history. Libretto & Source Introduction | Gozzi’s Play | Other Versions of the Story | Turandot with Music | Other Adaptations Introduction The play which was the source for Puccini’s Turandot, Schiller’s adaptation of Carlo Gozzi’s Turandot or Turandotte, has an even older genealogy (although there are several versions of the actual origin). According to some, it was based on a story by the Persian poet Nizemi, who had traced its origins back to very old Iranian or Arabian legends. It is NOT (as is often reported) from the collection we know as The Arabian Nights or the Thousand and One Nights. It may come from a Persian source called The Persian Tales or The Thousand and one Days, which was well-known in France. How did a Persian fable come to be set in China? Very early, a people who called themselves Irani (Aryans) came from Babylonia and Assyria and settled in what is now Iran. Others called them Persians because early kings had their capital at Persis.

When in the seventh century AD, they were conquered by Moslems, they changed their religion but not their culture. The new rulers took Baghdad (then in Persian territory) as their capital. The Turks conquered Persia in the eleventh century, but in the thirteenth century, it fell once more to Genghis Khan’s Mongols. Then, near the end of the fourteenth century, it fell to Tamerlane. In Puccini’s Turandot, the victim in Act I is the Prince of Persia. Gozzi’s Play Act I At the gates of Peking which are decorated with the sculls of failed suitors The Prince, Calàf, and his aged parents have escaped from the conquered kingdom of Astrakan. (Astrakan is at the mouth of the Volga River.) Living as beggars, they have crossed high snow-covered mountains and burning deserts on foot. For a while the Prince worked as a gardener for Cheicobad, king of the Caranzani, where he was noticed and helped by the Princess Adelma. Cheicobad started a war with Altoum, the Grand Khan, and was defeated; Adelma was thought to be dead.

Another King took pity on the Prince’s family and arranged for the parents to be cared for in the poor house, leaving Calàf free to come to Peking, some 4,000 miles from his home. There he wished to join army of the Chinese Khan. At the gates of Peking he is recognized by his former tutor, Barach, who is living under an alias (Assan) and claiming to be from Persia. A dead march signals the beheading of the Prince of Samarkand. When Barach tells the Calàf of Turandot, the Prince remembers that the son of Cheicobad came to Peking and disappeared, probably another of Turandot’s victims. He is horrified by the stories he hears and castigates Turandot. Then he sees her portrait, falls in love with her, and becomes determined to answer the riddles himself. Act II Great Hall of royal council chamber Truffaldino, master of the eunuchs, and Brighella, master of the pages discuss several topics while they rearrange the hall for the next test.

There is a procession of guards; eight sages; Pantelone, the Emperor’s secretary; Tartaglia, the Chief Chancellor; and finally the Emperor Altoum. Pantelone says that where they come from (Venice) they don’t have such laws, nor are there men who fall in love with portraits and girls who hate marriage; they would laugh at such things. Calàf appears, saying he is a prince but refusing to give his name. All try to dissuade him from trying the riddles. A group of female slaves includes Adelma who was actually captured during her father’s war, and Zelima the stepdaughter of Barach. Adelma recognizes the Prince as her former gardener. Turandot admits that this prince stirs her to pity. As he answers the questions, Zelima prays God to help him. Adelma also prays but for a different reason; she wants him for herself. Turandot advises the Prince to leave, but he insists on trying to answer the riddles and succeeds. Although the answers vary in different translations and adaptations, one set includes the sun, the year and the lion of St. Mark (symbol of Venice).

Turandot wants to asks three more riddles but Altoum insists she stick to her vow. The Prince offers to die if she can find out his name by dawn. Note The rest of play is very complicated and cost Puccini, Adami and Simoni considerable trouble in transforming it into an opera… Act III A seraglio or harem Adelma laments her fate as a captive slave. Turandot describes her scorn for all men and their fickleness where women are concerned. Adelma proposes they trick the Prince into revealing his name, hoping to win him for herself. While the Prince and Barach are talking, guards come to fetch the Prince who just then is recognized by an old man in tattered clothing. It is his father Timur, who cries out Calàf’s name and tells him his mother is dead. Act IV The prison Turandot tells Barach, his wife and Timur they can save their lives by revealing the Prince’s name. Barach refuses; but Timur agrees to be tortured and give the names on the condition that Barach and his wife are spared. Adelma has her own plan to corrupt the Prince’s guards.

Turandot is torn: she would like to learn his name but is tormented by thoughts of his death. The Emperor tells Turandot he has learned the names of the Prince and his father, but she will never discover them; she should give up and marry "the worthiest man alive". She refuses. Calàf is visited in turn by Schirina, Zulima, and Adelma each trying unsuccessfully to learn the names. Finally Adelma tricks him into calling them out, but when she offers to save him if he will leave China with her, he refuses. Act V Second riddle scene Turandot arrives and speaks the names of Calàf and Timur. Calàf tries to kill himself but Turandot stops him, saying he must live for her sake. When Adelma tries to kill herself if she can not have the Prince, Calàf stops her. Turandot realizes he loves her and announces her own love for him. Altoum announces Calàf will succeed him. He has received news that the usurper in Astrakhan has been overthrown, and Timur can return to his kingdom. Adelma is also allowed to go home.

A happy Turandot announces that her previous hatred for the male sex has disappeared and asks pardon for her previous actions. Notes 1. Keikobad and Barak are named in Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow) indicating its source might also have been Persia. The name Keikobad belonged to several historical rulers of Persia and also to a thirteenth century Seljuk Turkish king. Barak was the name of one of the Tatar rulers. In Gozzi’s play we learn more of Turandot’s character. She scorns men for their faithlessness in moving from woman to woman with little regard to social status. An early exponent of women’s liberation she, like the mythical Amazons, sees men as useful only for the fathering of children. She wants the freedom men enjoy and is proud of her intellect. However, at the end, she addresses the audience and tells them she was wrong about men--she really loves them. Until near the end, Puccini’s Turandot is only interested in revenging an ancient ancestress and in protecting her own purity. Other Versions of the Story There are many other versions of the same story.

There is a tale called Wisdom under the Severed Heads in which there are as many riddles as can be asked between morning and evening. The Prince answers them all and asks the Princess his own riddle — not his name — which she fails to answer. They live happily ever after. There is a Turandot story in which Calàf is the son of Tamerlane. In that one the answers to the riddles are the sun, the sea and the year. Giuseppe Giacosa, one of Puccini’s librettists for earlier operas wrote Il trionfo d’amore, in which the story is moved to the Val d’Aosta in Italy during medieval times. Not all versions involve riddles. Marco Polo tells of a king of Samarkand who had a daughter who was able to defeat any man in the kingdom in battle. She swore never to take a husband until she found one who could defeat her. Her father gave her permission to marry anyone who bested her, but if a man tried and failed, he had to give her 100 horses. While no one dies, she has received 10,000 horses.

Turandot with Music About 1800, all spoken plays in German had incidental music. At least five different composers, including Weber, wrote incidental music for a serious drama based on Gozzi’s Turandot by the German poet Schiller, and at least seven operas predated Puccini’s. Puccini’s source was Andrea Maffei’s Italian translation of Schiller’s play adapted from Gozzi. Gazzoletti-Bazzini*: Turanda. 1867, La Scala Only a few fragments of this were published and, although he was probably aware of the opera, it is doubtful that Puccini knew it. The setting is on the Tigris in Persia before AD 650 at the time of the last Sassinad kings. There is a seraglio and no masks. The characters include Turanda the daughter of the king of Persia and Adelma her confidant. Calàf becomes Nadir, an Indian prince. Timur is dropped. Acts I and II are basically the same as in Gozzi. Turanda tries to learn the secret name by magic but the spirits refuse to give it to her.

Adelma puts a sleeping potion in Nadir’s drink. While Turanda and Adelma observe him, he mentions his name in his sleep. In Act IV Turanda confesses her feelings for Nadir. Later she tells him she knows his name and orders him away. When he tries to stab himself, Turanda confesses her love and asks her father to bless their marriage. *Bazzini taught Puccini at the Milan conservatory. Busoni’s Turandot Busoni’s Turandot (1917) started as an orchestral suite. In 1913 he got the idea to turn it into an opera. He wrote his own libretto, following Gozzi rather than Schiller, and retained Truffaldino, Pantalone and Tartaglia. His Act I is a compression of Gozzi’s first act. Truffaldino directs the arrangements for the coming test. The Emperor Altoum is a major character. Adelma recognizes the Prince immediately and knows his name so all the complications are avoided. ACT II starts with a chorus set to Greensleeves! Turandot examines her feelings, and her Father urges her to yield, "he is too good for you".

Adelma tells Turandot the name of the Prince in return for her freedom. When Turandot announces Calàf’s name, he starts to leave but Turandot asks him to stay; he has awakened her heart. The final ensemble asks, Was ist das alle Menschen bindet? (What is it that binds all mankind?) The answer is Love. It was the practice, especially when Goethe directed Schilller’s play, to keep changing the riddles. Some of the answers are: Puccini

Question: In which city is the opera Turandot set?
Answer: Peking