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Cyber Puccini
By Michelle Qiao 2007-1-31
Fast forward: Puccini's majestic masterpiece "Turandot," set in the Forbidden City, today unfolds on the Bund in Shanghai. Prince Calaf in jeans, leather and shades uses his laptop and the Internet to solve the princess' love-or-death riddles, writes Michelle Qiao.
Puccini's opera "Turandot" has been staged worldwide, even in the Ancestral Temple of the Emperor in Beijing in 1998. The masterpiece, a tale of love, is set in the Forbidden City.
Now the Chinese Princess Turandot will return home again, but this time in a creative modern version at the Shanghai Grand Theater, starring Argentinean tenor José Cura.
It's set in Shanghai and updated to the Internet Age with added contradictions between ancient and modern.
"We have changed the background of the opera from Beijing to Shanghai and added many modern elements," says the opera's director, Giancarlo del Monaco.
This startling new version was first staged in Switzerland last year. Italian-based Chinese conductor Lu Jia, who will conduct the Shanghai version, says it received positive reviews.
The opera, co-presented by Shanghai Grand Theater Arts Group, Zurich Opera House and Shanghai Opera House, will follow Puccini's original story and music. The opera, Puccini's last masterpiece, was first performed in 1926.
The dangerously beautiful Turandot is the Princess of China and daughter of the Emperor. She refuses to marry anyone but the man who can answer her three riddles. All suitors who fail will be put to death.
Enchanted by her beauty, the unknown Prince Calaf dares to try and at last succeeds, at the cost of the life of his slave girl Liu, who is in love with him.
In this version, titled "Love Transcends Time," Calaf will wear a black leather jacket, jeans and cool sunglasses. In cone-shaped green laser lights, he will travel to modern times and find the answers to the riddles with the help of a laptop and the Internet.
Finally to the melodies of "Jasmine Flower" on a gorgeous set of the Bund, the proud princess will throw off her heavy robes, revealing a tight-fitting qipao.
The new version will have more attractive stage effects and grander scenes than previous versions.
"I want to highlight the contradictions between two entirely different lifestyles and ways of thinking (ancient and modern), but it takes some time for the audience to understand the contradictions," says director del Monaco.
"The people in the Forbidden City have considered Calaf and Liu 'dangerous strangers' as if they were from another planet, because Calaf uses strange methods to work out the answers to the riddles. The 'strangeness' symbolizes the problems of cultural differences which are common in some new industrialized countries like China," he further explains.
Famous for his irresistible on-stage charisma and great voice, tenor Cura will sing Prince Calaf while soprano Paoletta Marrocu will play Turandot. Conductor Lu says Cura is considered the world's fourth tenor (after Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras), with a superb voice.
"He is one of the few tenors who can sing 'Othello.' Moreover, he's very comprehensive and he's studied conducting," he says.
Lu calls Marrocu "an outstanding soprano" as well as beautiful, ideal for the part of Turandot. In the eyes of conductor Lu, the beautiful and proud Turandot is not simply a cruel princess.
"I can understand her," he says. "The princess was born and grew up in the secluded palace where she didn't see many people. She did not know what was right or wrong. She felt it was normal to kill the one who could not answer her riddles.
"Puccini loved to write operas about humanity," Lu adds. "That's why his operas are still popular today. Times have changed, but the humanity, love relationships, hate and love in his operas are exactly the same as today."
Lu says most heroines in Puccini's operas are tragic and die in the end. In "Turandot," the slave girl Liu is the tragic woman who sacrifices her life to save her beloved Prince Calaf. Turandot orders her tortured to reveal Calaf's identity.
However, Lu's favorite Puccini heroine is not Turandot, but Tosca.
"Tosca is a very jealous, obsessive woman, but she's so sincere and upright and never hesitates after making a decision," says Lu.
An experienced conductor for symphony concerts and operas, Lu is curious how Puccini was able to assemble several Chinese pieces for his last opera though he had never visited China. He even used Chinese melodies and percussion in the scenes of imperial ceremonies.
"I've heard that he once was given a music box that could play many Chinese folk songs," says Lu.
"Opera art is multi-layered, including male singers, female singers, the orchestra and lighting," he says. "You don't have to understand every part of an opera. Just relax, experience, enjoy and fire your imagination. It's good to have your own feelings about an opera."
Puccini and 'Turandot'
Puccini died in 1924 while working on "Turandot." He got as far as the scene in which slave girl Liu commits suicide to avoid breaking under torture ordered by Turandot to reveal Prince Calaf's identity.
Frederico Alfano completed it. The opera won negative reviews from most critics, including conductor Arturo Toscanini, a friend of Puccini's. Toscanini led the work's world premiere in 1926. Immediately after the suicide scene, he laid down his baton and with tears in his eyes, spoke to the audience for the only time in his life: "Here maestro Puccini laid down his pen. Death was stronger than art." Toscanini then left the orchestra pit. It was one of the famous moments in conducting.
The character of Timur (Calaf's father) may have been based on Abdallah Es-Zaghal, the Moorish king of Grenada, who sold his kingdom and then was arrested by Benimeren, King of Fez.
The king is said to have blinded Abdallah and taken his money. Abdallah was forced to live as an outcast, panhandling for money while wearing a sign that read, "This is the unfortunate king of Andalusia."
Calaf may have been based on the singer Tansen, who commanded such a high price for performing that only the Sultan of India himself could hire him.
Turandot in the Forbidden City Lavish, spectacular and magnificent,the US$15 million staging of "Turandot" in Beijing's Forbidden City in 1998 was everything Puccini would have dreamed of.
World-famous Israeli conductor Zubin Mehta led the orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
The cast was brilliant. Turandot was sung by Giovanna Casolla, Calaf by Sergej Larin and Liu the slave girl by Barbara Frittolo.
The set was an 80-meter-wide, open-air courtyard of the former imperial temple of the royal family.
Acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou arranged the gorgeous set. Elements of Chinese royal pageantry were prominent. The project involved 1,000 participants (350 of them from Florence) and 1,500 costumes designed to match Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) fashion.
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Turandot in Shanghai
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 13, 2007
© Copyright: Kira
