Customer Reviews

Turandot: Full Score (Ricordi Opera Full Scores)

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There seems to be a complicated mix-up with this product at Amazon. The first time I ordered it I was sent something completely different, and the two reviews below (March 2007 and September 2000) clearly aren't about this item. So to avoid confusion: what is on offer here is a FULL (ORCHESTRAL AND VOCAL) SCORE of Puccini's final opera.

Ricordi has started a series of affordable full scores, Dover-style, but just a tad more classy. While Dover offers reprints of early editions, what you get here is a fully up-to-date version of the score reflecting the latest revisions and edits. The music is printed on firm, white paper and easy to read. It is prefaced by a portrait of the composer, a list of instruments, and a synopsis of the action in English, French and Italian. The Alfano completion of the final duet and finale is included. It is a pity that a little editorial lapse resulted in the omission of a page (238) - in my copy, this is added as an erratum on a separate sheet, but I trust this will be corrected in later reprints. What will be more of a problem for many users is that apart from the synopsis, everything is Italian only, language-wise. If, like me, you don't know what `ottone' are, I'll help you out in advance: they are the onstage brass ensemble. You may encounter some more of such conundrums while perusing the score, but on the plus side, you'll improve your Italian. In the end this is a most worthwhile purchase for any admirer of this magnificent opera; only by seeing the notes you'll become fully aware of its dazzling intricacies.

This is a review of anything Burton Fisher is offering with regards to Turandot (libretto, analysis, review...etc). Save your money. Two reasons.

1) - Burton Fisher's libretto is a poor translation with obvious mistakes. For example, in Act III, Scene II, he translates "primo pianto" as "first kiss." It's actually "first tear," and to make matters worst in the VERY NEXT LINE Fisher translates it as "first tear." This is sloppiness beyond compare and certainly not worth your money (the libretto alone costs $9 in downloadable pdf format from his website!). There are other errors and questionable word choices (it's like he went out of his way to make the most awkward translation possible), but take my word that you're better off looking elsewhere. You can find an English translation for cheap from the Ricordi Collection (I found on for under $2 on eBay).

2) - Fisher's analysis of Turandot is completely wrong. He submits to the idiotic "this opera is just a manifestation of Puccini's 'mother complex.'" Besides the obvious difficulties in trying to psychoanalyze a person who's been dead for almost a hundred years and whom you've never met, the theory flies in the face of what's actually in the opera. He dares to write that Liu is "punished" by Puccini because she yearns for base love when there is clearly no better example in all of opera of a more transcendent love. You can check Julian Budden's "Puccini: His Life and Works" for a thorough rebuttal to this foolish line of reasoning. Despite having many women die in his operas, no one seems to accuse Verdi of a "mother complex."

So all this to say I don't recommend anything by Burton Fisher when it comes to Turandot - and if this is any indication I would be wary of just about anything Burton Fisher offers. This Turandot libretto/book/analysis is of tremendously poor quality and confusing if not harmful analysis.

This RICORDI edition of Turandot: Full Score is beautiful to look at, easy to follow, and wonderfully layed out.The type face is large and the paper sturdy, and the score is well bound.

Highly recommended!