Customer Reviews

Puccini: Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is one of the best opera DVD's I have ever seen. You could not ask for more. It was recorded during one of those MET nights where everything goes perfect.

The title role is held perfectly by Marton. She isn't a great opera actress, but she IS a great soprano, and for Turandot that's enough.

As for Domingo's warm voice, it has rarely been more enchanting. For him, everything went perfect that night. Calaf's role suits him perfectly in both acting and singing. You could see him suffering during high C's, but this is even more thrilling especially since they come out perfectly.

Mitchell's Liu adds the cherry to the perfect Cake, while Levine's traditional conducting is amazing.

Zeffirelli's sets alone would have made a good reason why to buy this DVD. Acts I and II are majestuous.

Finally, the DVD's digital sound and image quality are outstanding. In summary, everything is Perfect!

Highly Recommended.

I watch a lot of opera on DVD, and there's usually some element of each performance that doesn't quite match the others. Perhaps it's a singer who isn't on par with his or her cast members, or -- more likely these days -- the design and/or directorial "concept" is anachronistic and distracting. But there's absolutely nothing -- and I mean nothing -- that doesn't work about this Met "Turandot." One can quibble perhaps with the scope of Zeffirelli's production, but for once his obsession with size pays off. This is an Asian fairytale, and the design is appropriately fantastical. (I actually recommend that, if you get the chance, you see this production in the house, as it has to be experienced live to be believed.) And the VOICES!! I was leery about Marton and Mitchell, as I haven't always loved their work in the past; but they're brilliant. As is Mr. Domingo, whom I've always loved. To be honest, "Nessun Dorma" doesn't quite explode the way it should, but I've rarely heard him in better voice. All in all, I cannot imagine a better "Turandot" on DVD.

I wish to thank the two prior reviewers of this recording for confirming its provenance as the Levine set done at the Met for Deutsche Grammophon. I have not purchased the VHS version but the Laserdisc, and that format is effective too. As I recall, the Liu of this recording (as I recall, Barbara Hendricks) is the same one as in the Karajan studio recording, and she acquits herself very well on both of them. The rest of the cast generally is very fine, and special marks go to the chorus. The ascent of the moon in Act I, when yet another unsuccessful suitor meets his dark fate, is very moving, particularly aided by the stage sets and original costuming.

Domingo as Calaf is self-recommending and he acts the role well too. I have some reservations about Eva Marton's performance in the title role - hence 4 stars instead of 5 - as she has a noticeable beat in her voice, and in spite of the costuming does not look at all like an irresistable Princess that men would literally be willing to risk their heads over. It would be difficult to criticize her acting because the role does not require much of it. Vocally she is no match for Joan Sutherland in this role, nothwithstanding the difference between live and studio conditions. To be fair, she is better here than in the 1983 Turandot done live in Vienna with Jose Carreras and Maazel conducting, also available on VHS. Levine conducts very forcefully and revels in Puccini's exotic percussion and chromaticism. He also handles the Franco Alfano ending as well as possible. It is a great tragedy that Puccini died from throat cancer before completing Act III. The scene of Liu's death is as inspired in its own right as the Liebestod, and then the chords introducing Calaf's "Principessa d'iglessa", where Alfano takes over, hit you like a diatonic jolt.

Overall, this remains a very enjoyable experience and gives a thrilling idea of experiencing a live performance at the Met. Highly recommended.

I've seen Turandot performed live, the latest by the Kirov Opera at the Kennedy Center, and I've watched videos, but this is the very first Turandot where the majesty of the music matched what I was seeing on stage, and where I was able to really understand how Turandot came to her final acceptance of the love she feels for Calaf.

Marton's Turandot is minamalist, but more would not, I think, have been better. Her voice is glorious. When I think of Turandot, her performance is the one I'll remember.

Mitchell's Liu makes me cry every time.

And, of course, Domingo is Domingo. I think he was born to play Calaf.

Ping, Pang and Pong were, for once, not just slapstick figures. They were played not only with humor, but also with a depth of feeling that is lacking in some other performances.

And, yes, the parts that Alfano wrote are different, and yes, Liu's death scene is masterful, and the last "real" Puccini that ever was -- but even after multiple watchings of this DVD, my jaw still drops when I see the final scene of Act III. Zeffirelli, better than anyone else I've ever seen direct Turandot, has come close to matching the glory of the music that Alfano put together from Puccini's themes.

Even after multiple viewings, I still get a shiver down my spine when the chorus sings "Decimilla anni al nostro Imperatore!", and I still thrill at the final "Gloria!".

HIGHLY recommended.

Leona Mitchell is one of the very few `Sopranos' able to drive the message home, particularly in this recording.
Placido Domingo warm voice is superb although, at times, I felt the music was a bit higher than the voice. (aria Nessun Dorma - None shall sleep -was magnificent)
The duo (Liu-Calaf) "My Lord: Listen and Don't cry Liu) ... how could one avoid crying!!
The performance of the ministers Ping, Pong and Pang and the way they `absorbed' their roles made me feel they were playing on the original site in Beijing.
Timur, the deposed king of Tartary (the father) bass-voice is impressive.

You will enjoy it much..............

This video is in my top 5 favorites because of the production which is the very best the Met has to offer. Even better than Aida! Zefferilli is the master and the dream cast is almost perfect. The roles are highly demanding vocally as the tessitura is very high. I think the sets and costumes are unequaled in any other opera available on video. A friend of mine who has seen almost all of the Met productions in the last 10 years has confirmed this as the best. I am looking forward to LA Opera's version to be performed in 2002 with a new ending being written for a premier here. I'm not unhappy with the existing one, but something new and different, if good, is also welcome. Mitchell is a triumph as Liu (the audience goes nuts); Marton works very hard, manages vocally and dramatically to exceed performances than almost anyone else in this role (its a voice-killer!); Paul Plishka as Timur was excellent as was the chorus and orchestra under the baton of Levine. Domingo looks totally wonderful and except for one little crack in his voice when his fortisimo was over the limits of the voice, also almost perfect. Domingo slighted his support at the end of Nessun Dorma and ran out of breath but covered it quite masterly. If they would have allowed him to move closer to the audience, doubt if he would have made this fluff. Who cares! He looked quite good in that soft teal leather! Not to nitpick! If you could only buy ONE opera video or thinking of a first purchase of an opera video - make it this one! You'll watch it over and over again - and it has a happy ending!! I bought the VHS when issued and later it was the my first LD. Truly Grand Opera! Highly recommended!!!

1. Hope...I hope you will buy this dvd. One of the best opera that I have seen on DVD.
2. Blood...This cast has passion. Levine is divine. Domingo is a strong Calaf with a dramatic voice that soars over Puccini's masterpiece. His acting is tremendous as usuall. Mitchell is the bonus of this great cast. She sings flawlessly and one of the best Liu I have heard.
3. Turandot...Eva Marton might not be the best Turandot, but that does not matter. When she and Domingo were singing in act III it was magic. When she was shedding tears while singing my heart palpitated to a renewed passion of why I loved Opera to begin with. My eyes and ears where glued to my home theater. For all I care Marton and Domingo could have cracked their voices and it would have not mattered to me a bit, cause folks the stars were alligned right over the Met that night. I have not seen Metha's version of the Turandot, but this is the best Turandot I have seen so far.

An excellent work. Mr. Levine is faithfull to G. Puccini's musical drama and the singers convey the tragic and emotional moments of the plot with full force. The voice of Eva Marton is outstandingly apt for the role of Turandot. Beautiful costumes. Franco Zeffirelli's coreography, as usual, leaves nothing to be desired.

I have seen other version of performances of this masterpiece opera by Puccini. I was not so impressed before and has been thinking that Puccini is not my appetite therefore not so enjoyable as other composers like Mozart or Verdi or Rossini. However, after having seen this version performed by the Met with such superb and wellknown singers, I realized that this music is as beautiful and enjoyable as other operas and shall be regarded as one of the masterpieces of operas.
Placido Domingo as Calaf and Eva Marton as Turandot are such super stars in singing as well in acting to be able to present the music into a divine and enchanting entirety. Also other singers like Mitchel as Liu matched the beautiful singing of the two above. The costumes and background sets was arranged in such elegant and rich designs which is as perfect and harmoniously matching to the place and contents of the story itself which make the entire opera a complete magnificent performance.
I enjoy the whole performance immensely and thereafter realize that opera performances not only depend on the music itself but mainly on the immensity and magnitude of the performance and singers.

How can a 40-year old Hungarian woman portray a twenty-something pre-Medieval Chinese princess? Very well is the answer. Many people feel that Marton is the definitive Turandot of our generation. She has power to spare in her voice, and although her acting is minimalist, it's by no means wooden. There's an economy of gesture, but she mimics many of the hand movements of the Peking opera and comes across as convincing.

Leona Mitchell, a large American woman playing a frail Asian slave, is less convincing to watch, but was in great voice on the night this was recorded at the Met. Domingo is the favorite tenor of many people and sings well here too. All the supporting cast members are well-chosen, and the ensemble movement is particularly effective--it looks as if there's a cast of 1,000s on the stage.

If you've seen opera at a provincial house, this is a good way to see how they do it at the Met, with the good (excellent musical preparation), the bad (endless curtain calls) and the ugly (Jimmy Levine mugging a self-satisfied smirk for the cameras, or is that how he really looks?).

It isn't quite a perfect opera: Puccini was beyond weird in his relations with women and knows nothing other than "love at first sight." And this opera was famously finished after Puccini's death by Franco Alfani, his pupil. There's a big bump in the score when you get to the Alfani bits--we move from daring modern harmonies, to something that sounds like a rehearsal pianist vamping major triads. But interesting for all that.

Highly recommended--if you own one opera on tape, this should be it.