Puccini: Turandot

Eva Marton (Artist), Ben Heppner (Artist), Margaret Price (Artist), Claes-Haakan Ahnsjo (Artist), Heinrich Weber (Artist), Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Roberto Abbado (Conductor), Munich Radio Orchestra (Orchestra), Augsburg Boys' Choir (Performer), Bavarian Radio Chorus (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Augsburg Boys' Choir, Bavarian Radio Chorus
• Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra
• Conductor: Roberto Abbado
• Composer: Giacomo Puccini
• Audio CD (September 14, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003F6Z
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,574 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Turandot: Act One: Popolo di Pekino! (Mandarino)

2. Turandot: Indietro, cani! (Le guardie)

3. Turandot: Gira la cote! (La folla)

4. Turandot: Perchè tarda la luna? (La folla)

5. Turandot: O giovinetto! Grazia, grazia! (La folla)

6. Turandot: Figlio, che fai? (Timur, Calaf)

7. Turandot: Fermo! Che fai? T'arresta? (Ping, Pang, Pong)

8. Turandot: Non indugiare! (I fantasmi)

9. Turandot: Signore, ascolta! (Liù)

10. Turandot: Non piangere, Liù (Calaf)

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Turandot: In questa Reggia (Turandot)

2. Turandot: Straniero, ascolta (Turandot)

3. Turandot: Gloria, gloria, o vincitore! (La folla)

4. Turandot: Figlio del cielo! Padre augusto! (Turandot)

5. Turandot: Tre enigmi m'hai proposto! (Calaf)

6. Turandot: Act Three: Introduzione: Cosi comanda Turandot (Araldi)

7. Turandot: Nessun dorma! (Calaf)

8. Turandot: Tu che guardi le stella (Ping, Pang, Pong)

9. Turandot: Principessa divina! (Ping)

10. Turandot: Tanto amore, segreto (Liù)

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful recording - sadly, likely to be overlooked., August 7, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Puccini: Turandot (Audio CD)

This is a full-blooded, but also insightful, recording of an opera that has been done to death. Sadly, performances usually attract singers better known for their volume than their musical sensitivites. I fear that this is near the truth for Eva Marton, but nothing could be further from it as far as Heppner and Price are concerned. Heppner sings Calaf with true heroic scale, but also with great beauty of tone and respect for the composer's intention. Aside from his interpretation, there were two other pleasant surprises for me. Roberto Abbado easily convinces, on this recording, that he is a conductor in the front rank. He is excellent at pacing the music, and especially in building towards the climax -- and there are SO many climaxes in this score that it can give you earache. The other great surprsie, and it was a delight, was the Liu of Dame Margaret Price. Astonishing that a singer best known for lieder, for her Mozart, Verdi and Strauss, should turn her hand to Puccini at this stage in her career. Nonetheless, she is ravishing in the role and exposes the extraordinary beauty and vulnerability in the role, and character, of Liu. Wonderful!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heppner isn't the whole show, but he's a wonder, May 26, 2010

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Puccini: Turandot (Audio CD)

I have nothing startling to add about this Turandot from 1992, which the earlier reviewers have accurately described. It's very professionally conducted by Roberto Abbado, nephew of Claudio, at a level of inspiration well below Karajan and Mehta in their sets but far above Molinari-Pradelli and Leinsdorf on theirs. The recorded sound is good, although a bit glaring when the singers are loud, and the forces of the Munich Opera are fine (you won't mistake the chorus for native Italians, but that's a small matter). It's obvious that Eva Marton, never an artistic Turandot, is not in best voice but still capable of considerable lung power. She doesn't seriously wobble, and more importantly, her voice is a fit for the part.

I am getting these preliminaries out of the way to discuss the main attraction, the young Ben Heppner, singing Calaf at age 36. That's young for a budding Heldentenor. Heppner had made his European and U.S. debuts only four years before. He had already won the Lauritz Melchior prize, which the opera world considers a bellwether for up and coming heroic tenors. As heard here, the voice is startlingly lovely but not fully powerful or rounded out. The digital recording gives it a note of shrillness. Yet it was clear that the opera world lacked a convincing Calaf. Pavarotti and Domingo, neither of them naturally suited to the role, had made their recordings in the Seventies, and Carreras, who had even less voice, was powering through the part sheerly on will and temperament. What a relief to hear Heppner glide through the most difficult stretches like a warm knife through butter, thanks to rock-solid technique and incredible support. The ease with which he delivers "Non piangere, Lu" is breathtaking. (Did anyone at the Bible College in Regina, British Columbia have any idea where their teenage student was heading?)

Heppner was taking the rarest and toughest road to the status of Heldentenor, not moving up from a natural baritone but adding strength to a natural tenor. As Calaf he displays such flexibility and "ping" at the top of his range that you'd never call this a typically beefy, stolid German tenor at all. His attack in the riddle scene is courage personified. Devoted fans should seek this recording out for the pleasure of hearing how greatness begins to develop. But there are other pleasures, too: a marvelous, touching Liu from Margaret Price and an outstandingly satiric trio of Ping, Pang, and Pong equipped with world-class sneers. Rootering is a solid Timur, if a little without noble character.

In its original review, the Gramophone griped about lack of involvement and Italianate style on Heppner's part. The latter point is partially true, but the reviewer failed to hear the emergence of a voice that would salvage the Wagnerian tenor repertoire, not to mention Berlioz's Troyens. Heppner's contribution deserves five stars and nothing less.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Give it a chance...you might really like it, July 18, 2006

By 

J. Russ - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Puccini: Turandot (Audio CD)

It seems to me that Marton is attacked for singly "badly", or at least, not "as beautifully" as Sutherland or Nilsson. I admit, that her voice can't hardly be called beautiful; but neither can Calla's. I admit, that her singing shows signs of stretching; but so does Ricciarelli's. But both Callas and Ricciarelli recorded enjoyable Turandot and gave me many hours of listening pleasure. I agree that both Sutherland and Nilsson sang effortlessly; but that's precisely why I don't care much for their recordings. It's too easy. Turandot is not a pretty-pretty lamb-like princess. She is a predator, a sick woman who craves for revenge. I think in this aspect Marton protrays the princess perfectly. Marton does seem to have trouble maintain a smooth vocal line; and therefore after a while, her signing sounds very weighty, even throaty at times. Then again, doesn't Franco Corelli's singing sound like that too? No one seems to mind because---there's so much passion and glory in his singing, people tend to ignore that aspect. I think Marton should be given the same consideration. I really think she does a great job singing the role. Give this recording a chance, you might really like it!

As so many people mentioned above, Ben Heppner does a wonderful job singing Calaf; if not at times being a bit uncreative. Margaret Price doesn't seem like the right fit for the role of Liu, but she sings beautifully. Roberto Abbado's conducting is passionate and engaging. I give this recording four stars.