Turandot Is March 24, 2018, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The March 24, 2018, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Turandot, Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s last, unfinished opera.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-2018 staging of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot revives Italian film, opera and television director Franco Zeffirelli's production, which debuted at the Met during the 1986-1987 season: Meet Me At The Opera ‏@MMATOpera via Twitter Nov. 16, 2017

Turandot, a three-act by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924) opera about the winning of icy Chinese Princess Turandot by riddle-solving Prince Calaf of Tartary, is the March 24, 2018, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Italian librettist and music critic Giuseppe Adami (Feb. 4, 1878-Oct. 12, 1946) and Italian dramatist and film and theater critic Renato Simoni (Sept. 5, 1875-July 5, 1952) co-wrote the Italian libretto. Adami was the librettist for two previous Puccini operas: La Rondine (1917) and Il Tabarro (1918).

The literary source for Puccini’s Turandot is Turandot, a five-act commedia dell’arte play by Italian playwright Carlo, Count Gozzi (Dec. 13, 1720-April 4, 1806). Gozzi’s inspiration came from Persian fairy tales and myths. Gozzi’s play premiered Jan. 22, 1762, at Teatro San Samuele in Venice, Veneto region, northeastern Italy.

Puccini’s interest in the tale also derived from his familiarity with Turandot, Prinzessin von China (1801), a Romantic-style adaptation of Gozzi’s play by German philosopher, playwright and poet Friedrich von Schiller (Nov. 10, 1759-May 9, 1805). Schiller’s play premiered in 1802 at the Weimar Court Theatre, central Germany, as a production by the theater’s director, German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Aug. 28, 1749-March 22, 1832).

Puccini’s sudden death from a heart attack while undergoing seemingly successful experimental radiation therapy for throat cancer in Brussels, Belgium, left his last opera unfinished. The first two acts were complete. The third act was composed and fully orchestrated through Princess Turandot and Prince Calaf’s duet, Principessa di morte (“Princess of death”). The duet follows self-stabbing by deposed King Timur of Tartary’s only remaining servant, Liù, to end tortures ordered by Princess Turandot.

Puccini’s publisher, Casa Ricordi, selected Italian composer Franco Alfano (March 8, 1875-Oct. 27, 1954) to complete the opera’s final duet, in which Princess Turandot, transformed by Liù’s self-sacrifice for love of Prince Calaf, gives love a chance with Prince Calaf. Ricordi based his choice upon similarities of exotic setting and heavy orchestration that he found between Puccini’s Turandot and Alfano’s opera La Leggenda di Sakùntala (1921).

Turandot premiered April 25, 1926, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini (March 25, 1867-Jan. 16, 1957) conducted the premiere. A complete performance of the opera was not given at the premiere. Maestro Toscanini lowered his baton after the words “Liù, poesia!” and announced the ending of the performance to mark the last point in the score completed by Puccini. The opera was performed in its entirety, including Alfano’s contributions, the following night.

Fifteen performances of Turandot are scheduled for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season. Opening night, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, marked the opera’s 313th performance at the Metropolitan Opera. The month’s five additional performances took place Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m.

Four performances were offered in November. The month’s first performance, Saturday, Nov. 4, began at 1 p.m. as the opera’s last performance on Eastern Daylight Time during the 2017-2018 Met Opera season. The month’s three subsequent performances were under Eastern Standard Time: Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 11, at 8 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m.

Eastern Daylight Time is back in effect for the opera’s five spring performances, which begin Wednesday, March 21, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. In addition to the March 24 Saturday matinee broadcast, the month hosts two additional performances: Wednesday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 31, at 8:30 p.m. Closing night is Thursday, April 5, at 8 p.m.

Closing night marks the 327th performance of Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera.

Estimated run time for the three-act opera is 3 hours 4 minutes. Act I is timed for 32 minutes. An intermission of 42 minutes follows the first act. Act II spans 42 minutes. An intermission of 29 minutes follows the second act. The third and final act runs for 39 minutes.

Marco Armiliato conducts the opera’s five spring performances, including the March 24 Saturday matinee broadcast. His birthplace is Genoa, Liguria, northwestern Italy. The Genoese conductor debuted Nov. 9, 1998, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 1,048th performance of Puccini’s La Bohème. In the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, he reprises his debut role as conductor of La Bohème and also conducts another Puccini opera, Madama Butterfly, as well as Il Trovatore by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Marco Armiliato shares the conductor’s podium with Carlo Rizzi, who conducted the opera’s autumn performances. His birthplace is Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. The Milanese conductor debuted Oct. 29, 1993, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 989th performance of Puccini’s La Bohème. In the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, Carlo Rizzi also conducts Norma by Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835).

Martina Serafin appears as Turandot, the icy princess who finally learns to love, in the opera’s five spring performances, including the March 24 Saturday matinee broadcast. Her birthplace is Vienna, eastern Austria. The Austrian soprano debuted April 13, 2013, as Sieglinde in the Metropolitan Opera’s 535th performance of Die Walküre by German composer and librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Martina Serafin shares the role with Oksana Dyka, who appeared in the opera’s autumn performances. Her birthplace is Zhytomyr, northwestern Ukraine. The Ukrainian operatic soprano debuted Feb. 6, 2014, as Yaroslavna in the Metropolitan Opera’s 11th performance of Prince Igor by Russian Romantic Era composer Alexander Borodin (Nov. 12, 1833-Feb. 27, 1887).

Guanqun Yu appears in all four March performances, including the March 24 Saturday matinee broadcast, as Liù, a servant whose self-sacrificing love for Prince Calaf leads to a happy ending for icy Princess Turandot with riddle-solving Prince Calaf. Her birthplace is Yantai, northeastern Shandong Province, northeastern China. The Chinese soprano debuted Sept. 29, 2012, as Leonora in the Metropolitan Opera’s 626th performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore.

Guanqun Yu shares the role with two other sopranos. Hei-Kyung Hong appears as Liù in two performances: Nov. 16 and closing night, April 5. Her birthplace is Hongcheon County, Gangwon Province, northeastern South Korea. The South Korean-American lyric soprano debuted Nov. 17, 1984, as Servilia in the Metropolitan Opera’s eighth performance of La Clemenza di Tito by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Maria Agresta appeared as Liù in the first nine autumn performances. Her birthplace is Vallo, Campagna, southwestern Italy. The Italian soprano debuted Jan. 6, 2016, as Mimì in the Metropolitan Opera’s 1,251st performance of Puccini’s La Bohème.

Marcelo Álvarez appears in all spring performances, including the March 24 Saturday matinee broadcast, as Prince Calaf, whose riddle-solving talents ultimately open icy Princess Turandot’s heart to love. His birthplace is Córdoba, central Argentina. The Argentine lyric tenor debuted Nov. 23, 1998, as Alfredo in the Metropolitan Opera’s 819th performance of Verdi’s La Traviata. In the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, he also appears as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca.

Marcelo Álvarez shares the role with other tenors. Aleksandrs Antonenko in five of October’s six performances and in all four of November’s performances. His birthplace is Riga, Latvia. The Latvian tenor debuted March 9, 2009, as the Prince in the Metropolitan Opera’s 16th performance of Rusalka by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (Sept. 8, 1841-May 1, 1904). In the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, Aleksandrs Antonenko also appeared as one of the four soloists in Verdi’s Requiem, which was the season’s first Saturday matinee broadcast.

Arnold Rawls appears as Prince Calaf in the Oct. 31 performance. His birthplace is West Monroe, Louisiana. The American tenor debuted April 23, 2011, as Manrico in Acts III and IV of the Metropolitan Opera’s 623rd performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore.

Alexander Tsymbalyuk appears as deposed King Timur of Tartary, Prince Calaf’s father, in all spring performances, including the March 24 Saturday matinee broadcast. His birthplace is the northwestern Black Sea port of Odessa, southwestern Ukraine. The Ukrainian bass-baritone debuted Oct. 26, 2010, as Ferrando in the Metropolitan Opera’s 615th performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore.

Alexander Tsymbalyuk shares the role with two other bass-baritones. James Morris appeared in the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s first nine performances of Turandot. His birthplace is Baltimore, north central Maryland. The American bass-baritone debuted Jan. 7, 1971, as the King in the Metropolitan Opera’s 782nd performance of Verdi’s Aida.

Giorgi Kirof appears as Timur in the Nov. 16 performance. His hometown is Sofia, Bulgaria. The Bulgarian bass’s single appearance as Timur, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 322nd performance, marks his Metropolitan Opera debut.

Met Opera’s 2017-2018 staging of Turandot revives the 1986-1987 Met Opera’s new production directed by Franco Zeffirelli and featuring his set designs. The Italian film, opera and television director’s new staging debuted March 12, 1987, for the Metropolitan Opera’s 132nd performance of Turandot. The production team comprises Dada Saligeri and Anna Anni, costume designers; Gil Wechsler, lighting director; Chiang Ching, choreographer.

The opera’s setting is Beijing (Peking), China, in legendary times.

Turandot appears as the 17th of the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s 23 Saturday matinee broadcasts. Elektra was the season’s 16th Saturday matinee broadcast. Elektra aired Saturday, March 17, 2018, at 1 p.m.

The season’s 18th Saturday matinee broadcast is Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Mozart’s two-act operatic comedy is scheduled for March 31, 2018, at 1 p.m.

Online database Operabase places Giacomo Puccini in third place in a worldwide ranking of 1,281 composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/2016. Eighteenth century Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart and 19th century Italian composer Gioachino Rossini occupy second and third places, respectively.

Turandot occupies place 18 in the worldwide list of 2,658 most popular operas. Places 17 and 19 are held by 19th century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco and by 20th century Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Léhar’s Die Lustige Witwe (“The Merry Widow”), respectively.

Turandot’s Metropolitan Opera debut took place Nov. 16, 1926. Prior to the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, Turandot’s most recent Met Opera performances occurred during the 2015-2016 season.

The Metropolitan Opera’s Repertory Report provides statistics for the opera house’s operatic performances. Turandot is in place 25. Places 24 and 26 are occupied by two operas by 19th century Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, Otello and Un Ballo in Maschera, respectively.

The takeaways for Turandot as the March 24, 2018, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast are that the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s 17th Saturday matinee broadcast stands out as Puccini’s last opera and affirms the power of love to soften seemingly cold hearts.

"Franco Zeffirelli's set design for Turandot": Beth Levin @op109 via Twitter March 30, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-2018 staging of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot revives Italian film, opera and television director Franco Zeffirelli's production, which debuted at the Met during the 1986-1987 season: Meet Me At The Opera ‏@MMATOpera via Twitter Nov. 16, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/931232192444977152

"Franco Zeffirelli's set design for Turandot": Beth Levin @op109 via Twitter March 30, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/op109/status/847385506371338241

For further information:

Beth Levin @op109. “Franco Zeffirelli’s set design for Turandot.” Twitter. March 30, 2017. Available via Twitter @ https://twitter.com/op109/status/847385506371338241

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
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“Debut: Arnold Rawls.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353958 Metropolitan Opera Il Trovatore {623} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/23/2011.
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“Debut: Giorgi Kirof.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356794 Turandot {322} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/16/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356794

“Debut: Guanqun Yu.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354555 Il Trovatore {626} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/29/2012.
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“Debuts: Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Renée Tatum.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352873 Il Trovatore {615} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/26/2010.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352873

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"Debuts: Dmitri Tcherniakov . . . Oksana Dyka . . ." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355301 New Production Prince Igor {11} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/06/2014.
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“Debuts: Gregory Lorenz, Marco Armiliato.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 331123 La Bohème {1048} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/09/1998.
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“Debuts: Maria Agresta, Kihwan Sim.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356237 La Bohème {1251} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/06/2016.
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Gozzi, Carlo. Turandot: Fiaba Chinese Teatrale Tragicomica in Cinque Atti. Opere Edite ed Inedite del Carlo Gozzi, tomo secondo. Venice, Italy: Giacomo Zanardi, 1801.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=lawMAAAAYAAJ
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Available @ hhttps://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/2017-2018-met-opera-season-premiere-of.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/elektra-is-march-17-2018-met-opera.html

Meet Me At The Opera ‏@MMATOpera. "Plans tonight in #NewYork? Puccini’s TURANDOT at #MetOpera Franco Zeffirelli production." Twitter. Nov. 16, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/931232192444977152

Meet Me At The Opera ‏@MMATOpera. "Plans tonight in #NewYork? Puccini’s TURANDOT at #MetOpera November 8. 11.16 Franco Zeffirelli production." Twitter. Nov. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/928318589446352898

Metropolitan Opera ‏@MetOpera. "Take a 360° look at the Act I set from the grand Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini's #Turandot. On stage through 11/16." Twitter. Nov. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/928385272252952577

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Take a 360° look at the Act I set from the grand Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini's Turandot. Click on the image and use your cursor to explore the set and view from the Met stage. Turandot is on stage this fall through November 16." Facebook. Nov. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10159689739965533/

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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=287710

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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

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Available via MDZ (Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum Digitale Bibliothek) Digitale Sammlungen @ http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10925189_00005.html

Shakespeare Opera Theatre Film @AskAmy_. "One of 2 remaining Franco Zeffirelli stagings. Turandot." Twitter. May 16, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/AskAmy_/status/864613039303270401