Met in HD Encores – Three Left this Summer

Three Met in HD summer encores are left this year. I  missed the gorgeous Butterfly last week because I was out of town. 

I am not sure I need to see this Trovatore again, but I’ll probably go anyway. 

I used to have the Onegin on DVD (I cannot find it...who did I loan it to? Sorry; to whom did I loan it?); and I think it's a "don't miss" performance and production (all those leaves!). I reviewed this one, and here is the first part. My Uncle (my Dad's brother) had some thoughts about this production of his favorite opera. 

And I simply must see Nina Stemme as Turandot.

Here are the dates the encores playing in my neighborhood (all Wednesdays):

• 06/27 – Trovatore 7:00 PM
• 07/11 – Eugene Onegin 7:00 PM
• 07/18 – Turandot 7:00 PM

Turandot in Torino – Find the Diva

OK, so imagine you're a diva who can actually sing the role of Turandot. And you get hired for a production. And and the director says, "You'll never be on stage alone. You will be surrounded by the female chorus, and they will all be dressed exactly like you and move exactly like you. And they all be will  lip-synching your part with you. [Ed.: and some will over-act*.]  And, you will lip-synch all the choral parts with them. So most of the audience won't even be able to tell you're the actual diva."

Where's Waldo Turandot?

"Hmmmm," you think in your diva brain, "I am not that egotistical, I can handle that."

And then the director says, "Oh by the way, the opera ends when Liu dies—there's no big final happy ending duet. In fact, you die when Liu dies, and that's it." If you're still on board, then you are an exceptional diva!

So, they ended the performance where Puccini stopped writing, much as Arturo Toscanini did at its premiere almost 100 years ago. Toscanini stopped there because he wasn't pleased with either of Alfano's endings. And although the opera's also been completed by Luciano Berio (!!!), that ending didn't appeal to this director and maestro either. So they decided to follow Toscanini's lead. This shifts the focus away from Turandot's (less than convincing anyway) transformation from ice princess to love diva. And that's where Liu comes back in. She is in love with Calaf simply because he was nice to her. Not because she's bloodthirsty, vengeful, and unavailable. Calaf always seems more interested in "conquering" Turandot than actually loving her (or being in love with her). If he wanted love, Liu is right there for him. He's kind of a Pinkerton to me. But I digress.

The Nina Stemme Show: Turandot at the Royal Swedish Opera

Riccardo Massi & Nina Stemme

I just came across a thorough review by Aksel Tollåli at bachtrack of Nina Stemme's debut as Turandot. He also provides some detail on the production, which sounds intriguing. 

...the chorus, originally an angry, bloodthirsty mob of Chinese people, was turned into an angry, blood-thirsty mob of an opera audience, dressed to the nines, and seated in replicas of the chairs of the Royal Opera’s auditorium... The chorus egged on the singers in front of them...before leaving the stage after all of the interesting bits had happened, only to return after a while, champagne flutes in hand, for the next big moment. 

Nina Stemme is Turandot

Nina Stemme is the new Turandot. It only makes sense. Here is her "big aria." From his brief participation in this scene, it sounds like Riccardo Massi is a smooth, powerhouse Calaf, too. Below the YT clip is a link to the complete performance at Sveriges Radio. I have not heard the whole performance yet, but I need to do so soon, and so do you. It will be online only for about 20 more days.

(Update, 08/14/2016 - this is from a 2015 performance at La Scala -- the Stockholm recording was "disappeared." This is actually better, since it's video!)

In questa reggio

Puccini: Turandot Live performance from the Royal Opera, Stockholm. Recorded February 16, 2013 on SverigeSRadio. Thank you, Sveriges Radio!

(also, hear the riddle scene)