Puccini: Turandot (2 CD/CD-ROM)

Callas (Artist), Schwarzkopf (Artist), Fernandi (Artist), Paccaria (Artist), Puccini (Composer), Serafin (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Serafin
• Composer: Puccini
• Audio CD (April 20, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B0036O0ELC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,573 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Act I: Popolo di Pekino!

2. Act I: Padre! Mio Padre!

3. Act I: Perduta la battaglia

4. Act I: Gira la cote! Gira!

5. Act I: Perche tarda la luna?

6. Act I: La, sui monti dell'est

See all 32 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Act III - Scene I: Cosi comanda Turandot

2. Act III - Scene I: Nessum dorma!

3. Act III - Scene I: Tu che guardi le stelle

4. Act III - Scene I: Pricipessa divina!

5. Act III - Scene I: Quel nome!

6. Act III - Scene I: L'amore?...Tanto amore, segreto e inconfessato

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Turandot: Libretto

2. Turandot: Synopsis

Editorial Reviews

"To have Callas, the most flashing-eyed of all sopranos, as Turandot, is

- on record at least - the most natural piece of casting ... one of the

most thrillingly magnetic of all her recorded performances."

Synopsis

Puccini's final, and unfinished opera, set in Imperial China, features

perhaps the most famous of all arias, the tenor's glorious `Nessun

dorma'. It is sung in the final act by Prince Calaf, expressing his

confidence that no one in Peking will discover his name before sunrise.

He has guessed the answers to the three riddles set to her royal suitors

by the beautiful, but icy Princess Turandot. A succession of princes has

already paid the price of failure: execution. Calaf has, however, struck

a bargain with Turandot: if she finds out his name, he will die; if she

does not, she will be his. Puccini's score, completed after his death by

Franco Alfano, is breathtaking, shot through with oriental colour and

melody, and full of brutality, pageantry and lyricism. The soprano in

the title role makes a spectacular entrance with her narrative aria `In

questa reggia', while the subsequent Riddle Scene brings strenuous

sparring with the tenor. Contrasting with the Chinese princess is the

gentle, but courageous Liù, a slave girl who has long been in love with

Calaf. Her heartbreaking `Signore, ascolta' launches the spinetingling

finale to Act I, while in Act III her two arias, followed by her

suicide, finally thaw Turandot's heart.