Imperious and awesome she may be, but Turandot, the Chinese princess of Puccini's last--and some say greatest--opera, is hardly role-model material. Like all the ancient Furies rolled into one, Turandot is a dark force of nature, driven by an unseemly thirst for vengeance.
Her sport is putting three impossible riddles to those hapless men who dare seek her hand in marriage--and lopping off their heads when they inevitably fail. She tells us it's her revenge for wrongs done to a long-ago ancestor, a woman callously subjugated to the will of invaders (men), then murdered.
"No one will ever possess me!" Turandot trills. "The horror of her assassin / Is still vivid in my heart!"
At the same time she wreaks her vengeance, Turandot also feeds the blood lust of her Chinese subjects, who chant in anticipation of the next decapitation, "Hone the blade! Hone the blade!"
Of course, Turandot is not really Chinese at all; she is an invention of European "Orientalism," in which all things Asian were seen as the other: exotic and intoxicating, barbaric and cruel. Nevertheless, next month she travels to the alleged scene of her crimes--to Beijing and the Forbidden City, citadel of China's imperial clan for 500 years--where she will reenact her story under the baton of maestro Zubin Mehta and the direction of Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou ("Raise the Red Lantern," "To Live").
This world-class production of "Turandot" is headlined by Western opera stars including Sharon Sweet and Barbara Hendricks, backed by the chorus and orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and presented under the auspices of the Europe-based Opera on Original Site Inc., or OOS.
"Let's get this straight," Mehta says when reached by phone in Munich, where he is conducting the Bavarian National Opera productions of "Tristan und Isolde" and "La Traviata." "This is the production we did in Florence, only on a larger scale, modified to fit the Forbidden City."
He is referring to the sold-out "Turandot"--with essentially the same forces--that was staged during last year's Florence music festival. It's hoped that that success can be repeated in Beijing, on a grander scale. This time "Turandot" will take over a side courtyard within the vast complex of red-columned pavilions and white-marble terraces that make up the Forbidden City, whose walls border Tiananmen Square.
The performances will be staged on the front platform and steps of what was formerly known as the Palace of Heavenly Purity, a place where dignitaries were granted royal audiences and where the hapless Pu Yi, the deposed last emperor of China, got married in 1924. Today it is known as the People's Cultural Palace.
No expense has been spared for this event. For the eight performances (Sept. 5-13), special tiered seating to accommodate 4,200 and a state-of-the-art sound system will be erected. Director Zhang, whose films are known for their austere beauty, is clearly reveling in the $750,000 budget for sets and costuming. For Florence, he brought along Chinese costume and set designers to conjure up an opulent dream-world based on the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907)--an era considered one of the most glorious in Chinese history. Now he has commissioned an opulent Ming look--Ming emperors (AD 1368-1644) first established the Forbidden City. The sets are heavy on red and gold (the imperial colors), the 1,400 handmade costumes heavy on embroidery.
To allow for daily performances, the demanding principal roles will be rotated among three singers each--Turandot will be sung by Giovanna Casolla, Audrey Stottler and Sharon Sweet; Liu, the loyal slave girl, by Angela Maria Blasi, Barbara Frittoli and Barbara Hendricks; Calaf (or the Unknown Prince) by Lando Bartolini, Sergej Larin and Kristjan Johansson. Three-hundred-fifty members of the orchestra, cast and crew will be flown in from Italy to be joined by more than 600 Chinese performers--dancers from the Central Ballet and the Children's Chorus of Beijing, and extras. Their presence will make the opening lines of the opera acutely apropos.
"Popolo de Pekino! People of Peking!" a mandarin intones, before explaining Turandot's draconian courtship ritual.
Surely this will send a frisson through the crowd as evening falls over the Forbidden City and the tale of the heartless princess unfolds.
Getting "Turandot" to China is a tale of its own, five years in the making. Jetting around the world promoting and overseeing the project is OOS' head, Michael Ecker, an Austrian by birth and now international impresario by choice. For a few days, he stops over in Hong Kong to drum up publicity and plops down on a sofa in a lounge of the Grand Hyatt. A portly man approaching Pavarotti dimensions, he's in love with the idea of mixing culture with travel--in fact, his other business is American Overseas Tours.
