Turandot

Puccini died before he was able to complete Turandot, leaving in his wake some 30 sketches for the ending and a note that indicated a proposed dramatic shift into the realms of love with the words “and now Tristan”.

This new La Scala Turandot marked the first time the opera was performed in Milan with the finale devised by Luciano Berio, replacing Alfano’s traditional ending. Berio himself worked closely on this production with both the stage director Nikolaus Lehnhoff and La Scala’s Music Director, Riccardo Chailly.

“Incorporating 23 of Puccini’s sketches into his own material, the Berio proved a revelation.” (Bachtrack)

“A specific feature of Lehnhoff’ staging is certainly the handling of the ministers’ trio. Ping, Pong and Pang are no mere accessory to the play […] Lehnhoff conceives the ministers halfway between clowns coming out of a circus and characters taken from a DreamWorks animation movie […] which is quite appropriate to the tragicomic blend of this play. (Opera Online).

The performance has sublime figurative elegance, is well designed and stylized in its movements and costumes and flooded with vibrant reds and majestic purples. Nina Stemme takes the title role with her “powerful, luxuriant voice” and “blazing high notes” (New York Times).