Puccini: Turandot

Giacomo Puccini (Composer), ALAIN LOMBARD (Conductor), Maîtrise de la Cathédrale (Orchestra), Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg (Orchestra), Rhin Opera Choir (Orchestra), Mirella Freni (Performer), Montserrat Caballé (Performer), José Carreras (Performer), Michel Sénéchal (Performer), Ricardo Cassinelli (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Mirella Freni, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Michel Sénéchal, Ricardo Cassinelli
• Orchestra: Maîtrise de la Cathédrale, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Rhin Opera Choir
• Conductor: ALAIN LOMBARD
• Composer: Giacomo Puccini
• Audio CD (September 13, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002S5U
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,559 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Freni, Mirella
  • #54 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Caballe, Montserrat

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Caballe "Turandot" a mixed blessing, September 20, 2000

By 

"daniel0302" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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

"Turandot" has fared well on recordings with versions from Mehta, Leinsdorf, Erede, and Molinari-Pradelli. Then there are the others - qualified successes in varying degrees, including versions lead by Karajan, Maazel, Serafin, and Abaddo. This recording clearly belongs in the latter camp. It has much in its favor but it is impossible to genuinely recommend.

Its chief assets are the three principle singers. Montserat Caballe (Liu on the Mehta recording) sings Turandot here. Though a small voice for the title role, she gives a fantastic performance. She is steely, cool, and regal, and later unmistakably softened by love. The role of Calaf is perfectly suited to the young Jose Carreras, whose golden tone and smooth legato are ideal for Puccini's score. Mirella Freni makes a lovely Liu, with her full, warm, lycic soprano, and moving characterization. The work of these three is consistently top-notch.

Alain Lombard's conducting is the major weekness of this set, and a really big weakness at that. Some of his tempi are woefully ill conceived. Despite fine singing from Carreras, "Non piangere Liu" is destroyed by the ridiculously slow and labored pace. In other places, Lombard does not give the score the sparkle and excitement that it needs, and he does not seem terribly aware of the scores many subtleties and complexities.

Devotees of the stars will find great pleasure in this recording. But for those purchasing their first "Turandot", look elsewhere; start with Mehta (DECCA/LONDON) or Molinari-Pradelli (EMI).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Likable, satisfying "Turandot", October 22, 2002

By 

Matteo (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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

As Turandots go, this is an eminently likable and satisfying rendition. It is certainly a recording that is buoyed by the expert performances of the singers, all of whom are perfectly cast and who rise to the occasion to pull off Puccini's most difficult and most intoxicating opera.

"Turandot" is easily one of the greatest operas ever penned and it reveals a Puccini at the height of his powers. It is one of the greatest losses to opera and to music that he did not live long enough to complete it (it was completed by Franco Alfano, who used Puccini's sketches of the final duet). If you're looking for the lyricism of "La boheme" or "Madama Butterfly" then you'll find "Turandot" a bit of a change. To be sure there are the trademark Pucciniesque arias. But it is so unlike anything else he wrote, and it stands as one of the most thrilling pieces of music ever written.

Of course, there is no opera without the ice princess herself, and I greatly enjoyed Montserrat Caballe's performance. If the voice is not quite as fresh as when she essayed the role a year earlier (caught on a remarkably good live recording from performances at the San Francisco Opera in 1977) it is still compelling. The high tessitura is managed nicely, even if Alfano's Act 3 completion, as Mme. Caballe sings it, is not as triumphant as it could be. "In quesa reggia" is masterfully deployed, with strong, ringing high notes and a steady vibrato. The silvery edge to the voice is perfect for the role. The riddle scene is also handled well. Caballe is not known as an actor, and she does not manage to make any startling psychological insights into the character, but she does plenty. And the role is more tempermentally suited to her than any I can imagine.

Jose Carreras at first seems miscast, his lighter lyric tenor seeming inapporpriate for the heaviness of Puccini's final opera. But he seems to relish the role of Calaf and it is a pleasure to hear him eat it up. His voice, as always, is techically perfect, and it is a thrill to hear a lyric tenor sail into the stratosphere of "Nessun dorma" even if I kept wondering whether he would even be heard in an opera house. But in a recording it doesn't matter. He's a wee bit wooden sounding in terms of characterization, but it's a mere quibble.

Mirella Freni as Liu is a nice luxury addition to the cast. Her lyric soprano is distinctive, and it gives the character a face on what otherwise could be just another Puccini martyr. Act 1 found her it top form, and she does nicely in the concluding ensemble. "Tuche di gel sei cinta" is passionate if not particularly beautiful.

Paul Plishka's Timur is excellent, and he does perhaps the best acting job of the bunch--a marvel considering how little Puccini developed his character. His lush, graceful bass makes for some heartbreaking moments in his small aria after Liu's suicide. Perhaps the best performance pound-for-pound on the disc.

Much has been said of Alain Lombard's conducting, and it is indeed befuddling. The stupendous finale to Act 1 (so utterly thrilling as written by Puccini) is dispatched as if the conductor wanted to get to Act 2 more quickly. But then Act 2 is conducted beautifully, as is Act 3.

All in all, this set is very recommendable, especially for the price. And it's also recommendable for the solid performances of four singers in top form.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Great, But Still a Lot of Fun!!, December 1, 2008

By 

Good Stuff "noreasonableofferrefused" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Puccini - Turandot (MP3 Download)

OK, so this isn't the greatest "Turandot" ever recorded. It is still a lot of fun to listen to. No one can fault Freni's Liu, or just about anything else she did. Sure, Carreras is too light for the role, forcing his voice mercilessly, and knowing what we know now, we almost want to crawl into the stereo and tell him to "take it easy, there are troubles up ahead". And yes, Lombard's interpretation is, well, I might as well say it,....sorta kinda French! But it's different, and I like it, at least for a change.

And then there is Montserrat Caballe! What is there to say? Unlike the great Joan Sutherland, who gave us one of her greatest performances in her recording of "Turandot", but without ever singing it on stage, Caballe, on the other hand, gives us one of her greatest recorded performances in a role she actually did undertatke a few times. She is magnificent. And I agree with those who say you should search out the San Francisco Opera broadcast on CD. It is quite beautiful, and features Pavarotti in one of his rare appearances as Calaf.

So, should you buy this recording? Absolutely. And while you're at it, pick up Mehta's (with Sutherland, Caballe, Pavarotti, Ghiaurov, and, just for the hell of it, Peter Pears as the Emperor), and Leinsdorf's groundbreaking effort (with Nilsson's first recording of the role, Tebaldi and the magnificent Jussi Bjoerling just before his tragic death).

Puccini didn't complete "Turandot", it is true. But that doesn't seem to hurt our enjoyment of it one little bit.