Libretto by
Giuseppe Adami
and
Renato Simoni
after Carlo Gozzi
Directed by
Jeremy Sutcliffe
The Orchestra of
the Royal Opera House conducted by
Stefan Soltesz
The Royal Opera
Chorus directed by
Renato Balsadonna
Designs by
Sally Jacobs
Choreography by
Kate Flatt
Cast
Turandot
Georgina Lukacs
The Unknown
Prince (Calaf)
Ben Heppner
Liu
Elena Kelessidi
Timur
Robert Lloyd
Altoum
Francis Egerton
Ping
Jorge Lagunes
Pang
Robin Leggate
Pong
Alasdair Elliott
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Turandot
by Giacomo Puccini
Royal Opera House
7 - 22 July 2006
Given that the world divides into those who love Puccini's music and those who hate it, the following remarks have to be taken as directed only at the former. For this was a solid rendering of the master's intentions, a faithfully orthodox concentration on the drama in the music itself, which is superbly constructed and reaches thrilling heights of tension and beauty at points exquisitely chosen by Puccini's unerring sense of structure.
An opera is nothing without its cast, and the combination of gifts and talents provided by Georgina Lukacs as Turandot, Elena Kelessidi as Liu, and Ben Heppner as Calaf, very ably supported by the richness of Robert Lloyd's voice as Timur and the comic capacities and vocal callisthenics of Jorge Lagunes' Ping, Robin Leggate's Pang and Alasdair Elliott's Pong, were very satisfying. Much depends on the choir in Turandot, and Renato Balsadonna's team were excellent. Between them he and Stefan Soltesz found a balance in the dynamics that was at once atmospheric and richly textured, integrating the sound tapestry into the physical design of the tense, gloomy, claustrophobic world of Turandot's obsession and the dangerous pall it casts over everything.
Ben Heppner's voice took a little while to warm on the ear, and Francis Egerton's voice as Altoum was frail and remote in quality; both made a contrast with the immediate reach of Lukacs and Lloyd. That gift of a role, Liu, was embraced ecstatically by Kelessidi, whose instincts as an actress informed her elastic and sensitive singing throughout.
An extremely successful feature of the production was the dancing, choreographed by Kate Flatt. Director Jeremy Sutcliffe has hereby solved a problem with opera in general and Puccini in particular, which is that there are long musical intervals in which a large discretion is left to the director to decide what is to happen on stage while they unfold. In this production dance provides the solution, and it works wonderfully well. It is an idea worth exporting generally. It interprets the music and advances matters both atmospherically and narratively, at the same time maintaining or heightening tension as needed, and holding the audience.
Even with this clever embellishemnt this was a fine traditional Turandot of the kind that the Royal Opera House does so well, keeping the pillars of the repertoire upright and polished as a suport of the great desideratum: artistic quality. AC Grayling
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