Turandot
Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
Once upon a time there was a princess with a heart as cold as ice, who put her suitors to the test with a trio of puzzles to solve. Each failed attempt was punished with death, until the arrival of Prince Calaf, who managed to solve all three puzzles and win the heart of the algid princess with ballades full of lyrical passion. This is the plot of the final and unfinished masterpiece by Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, which is set in Beijing in the time of fables ( the source is the fable of the same name by Carlo Gozzi). This was not Puccini’s first experience with exotic settings, and he artfully recreated all of the charm of that distant world, using original Chinese melodies and particular combinations of timbre, with extensive orchestral use of idiophones (bells, tubular bells, celesta, xylophones, glockenspiels). However, he died while completing the third and final act. His colleague Franco Alfano was assigned the difficult task of completing this unfinished masterpiece. The opera debuted on 25 April 1926 at the Teatro alla Scala, conducted by Arturo Toscanini who, following the last notes written by Puccini, put down his baton and refused to continue. Puccini’s death marked the end of the glorious era of Italian melodrama and the fact that his final work remained unfinished was a symbolic epitaph.
Program and cast
Conductor: Juraj Valčuha
Director: Zhang Yimou
Scenes: Gao Guangjian, Zeng Li, Huang Haiwei
Costumes: Wang Yin
Choreography: Chen Weiya
Principal interpreters: Marjorie Owens, Aleksandrs Antoņenko, Valentina Mastrangelo, Andrii Goniukov, Francesco Verna, Chuan Wang, Francesco Pittari
Setting up of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Orchestra, Choir and Treble Voices Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Master of the Choir Choir Choir: Lorenzo Fratini
Teatro del Maggio - Florence State Opera Italy
Teatro del Maggio is in the centre, close to the old city walls, next to the historic Stazione Leopolda. The garden that welcomes visitors is Piazzale Vittorio Gui, named after the founder of the Stabile Orchestrale Fiorentina and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
By train
Santa Maria Novella is Florence's main train station.
From there you can reach the theatre with a short walk (about 10-15 minutes) or by taking the tram (a stop) or a taxi.
By car
The Opera di Firenze is just outside the ZTL area.
It is possible to park near the Parco delle Cascine or for a fee in the Porta al Prato car park (Via Elio Gabbuggiani, 7) and in the Piazza Vittorio Veneto car park.
By bus
Lines C1, C2 and D (Leopolda stop);
Lines 17 and 23A-B (stop Via delle Carra);
Lines 17B-C, 22, 23N, 23 and 57 (Pierluigi da Palestrina stop);
Lines 29, 29B, 29BA, 29BC, 29D, 30A, 30B, 30AC, 35 and 35° (stop Leopolda - Porta al Prato; Capolinea).
By tram
Line T1 (stop Porta al Prato - Parco della musica).