Turandot Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Seventh Met Opera Production

Summary: Turandot was Franco Zeffirelli’s seventh Met Opera production, which debuted during the 1986-1987 season as his third Puccini opera at the opera house.

A view of Franco Zeffirelli’s sets in the 14th revival (2015-2016 season) of the Italian designer, director and producer’s production of Puccini’s Turandot: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook July 17, 2018

Turandot was Franco Zeffirelli’s seventh Met Opera production, which debuted in the 1986-1987 season and numbered as the third of three Puccini operas produced by the Italian designer, director and producer at the Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera debuted Franco Zeffirelli’s new production of Turandot on Thursday, March 12, 1987, in the opera house’s 132nd performance of the final opera by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). The new production received eight performances in the 1986-1987 Met Opera season.

Three Puccini operas inspired the fifth, sixth and seventh of 11 productions designed and directed by Franco Zeffirelli (Feb. 12, 1923-June 15, 2019) for the Metropolitan Opera. He had debuted La Bohème as his first Puccini opera at the opera house during the 1981-1982 season. Tosca had debuted as Zeffirelli’s second Puccini opera at the opera house during the 1984-1985 Met Opera season.

Zeffirelli directed and designed the sets for his new production of Turandot. His production team comprised Gil Wechsler as lighting director and debuted Dada Saligeri as costume designer and Chiang Ching as choreographer.

James Levine (born June 23, 1943) conducted all eight performances of Zeffirelli’s Turandot during the production’s debut season. The Metropolitan Opera’s second music director had also conducted the premiere of Zeffirelli’s first Puccini opera at Met Opera, La Bohème.

Eva Marton (born June 18, 1943) sang the title role opposite Plácido Domingo (born Jan. 21, 1941) as Calàf. The Hungarian dramatic soprano had made her Metropolitan Opera debut Nov. 3, 1976, as Eva in the opera house’s 364 performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by 19th-century German composer and librettist Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883). The Spanish tenor had made his Metropolitan Opera debut Sept. 28, 1968, as Maurizio in the opera house’s 16th performance of Adriana Lecouvreur by Italian composer Francesco Cilea (July 23, 1866-Nov. 20, 1950).

Domingo’s appearance as Calàf marked his second opening night in a new Zeffirelli production at the Metropolitan Opera. In the 1984-1985 season, Domingo had sung Cavaradossi in Zeffirelli’s first Puccini opera, Tosca.

The Metropolitan Opera has staged 16 revivals of Zeffirelli’s Turandot in the 34 seasons since the production’s 1986-1987 season debut. The production has skipped 18 seasons in the interim.

The first revival, staged in the 1987-1988 season, succeeded the production’s debut. No revival was offered in the 1988-1989 season.

The second revival took place in the 1989-1990 season. No revival was staged in the 1990-1991 season.

The third revival occurred in the 1991-1992 season. No revivals were offered in the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 seasons.

The fourth and fifth revivals took place successively in seasons 1994-1995 and 1995-1996. No revival was staged in the 1996-1997 season.

The sixth revival occurred in the 1997-1998 season. No revivals were offered in the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 seasons.

The seventh revival was staged in the 2000-2001 season. No revival was offered in the 2001-2002 season.

The eighth through 10th revivals occurred in seasons 2002-2003 through 2004-2005. No revival was offered in the 2005-2006 season.

The 11th revival took place in the 2006-2007 season. No revivals were offered in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons.

The production’s 12th revival happened in the 2009-2010 season. No revivals were offerd in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.

The 13th revival occurred in the 2012-2013 season. No revivals were offered in the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons.

The 14th revival took place in the 2015-2016 season. No revival was offered in the 2016-2017 season.

The 15th revival happened in the 2017-2018 season. No revival was offered in the 2018-2019 season.

The 16th and most recent revival was launched in the 2019-2020 season. Closing night in the 2019-2020 season took place April 25, 2020. Closing night numbered as the season’s 13th performance and as the 209th performance of Zeffirelli’s production.

The Metropolitan Opera hosted the United States premiere of Puccini’s Turandot on Nov. 16, 1926. The opera received 12 performances in the 1926-1927 season. From its premiere in 1900 through the 2019-2020 season’s closing night, Turandot has tallied 340 performances. Zeffirelli’s production, with 209 performances thus far, accounts for 61 percent of the opera house’s performances of Turandot.

The takeaways for Turandot as Franco Zeffirelli’s seventh Met Opera production are that the Italian designer and director’s staging marked his third involvement in a Puccini opera at the Metropolitan Opera and that, thus far, his Turandot staging has received 209 performances and experienced 16 revivals in the 33 years since its 1986-1987 season debut.

Franco Zeffirelli’s Turandot set, which debuted in the 1986-1987 season, is in place for the production’s 15th revival in the 2017-2018 season: Met Opera Chorus @MetOperaChorus, via Facebook Nov. 8, 2017

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

A view of Franco Zeffirelli’s sets in the 14th revival (2015-2016 season) of the Italian designer, director and producer’s production of Puccini’s Turandot: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook July 17, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/videos/10160794129165533/

Franco Zeffirelli’s Turandot set, which debuted in the 1986-1987 season, is in place for the production’s 15th revival in the 2017-2018 season: Met Opera Chorus @MetOperaChorus, via Facebook Nov. 8, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOperaChorus/posts/1455518814524003

For further information:

“Debut: Eva Marton.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 247250 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg {364) Metropolitan Opera House: 11/3/1976.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=247250

“Debut: Peter J. Hall.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 228890 New Production Otello {184) Metropolitan Opera House: 03/25/1972.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=228890

“Debut: Plácido Domingo.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 216130 Adriana Lecouvreur {16} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/28/1968.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=216130

“Debut: Raimund Herincx, Gil Wechsler, Stuart Sebastian.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 248030 Le Prophète {74) Metropolitan Opera House: 01/18/1977.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=248030

“Debuts: Hugues Cuénod, Dada Saligeri, Chiang Ching, Roger Koch.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 287710 New Production Turandot {132} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/12/1987.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=287710

“Debuts: Luigi Alva, Leonard Bernstein, Franco Zeffirelli.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 197440 New Production Falstaff {67} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/6/1964.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=197440

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017-2018 Met Opera Season Premiere of Turandot Is Thursday, Oct. 12.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct, 2, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/2017-2018-met-opera-season-premiere-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Andrea Velis Made Beppe Role Debut at Met Opera in Zeffirelli’s Cav Pag." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 6, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/andrea-velis-made-beppe-role-debut-at.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Antony and Cleopatra Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Second Met Opera Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 15, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/antony-and-cleopatra-was-franco.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Cav Pag Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Third Met Opera Production.” Earth and Space News. Monday, June 22, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/cav-pag-was-franco-zeffirellis-third.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Franco Zeffirelli Made His Met Opera Debut in Staging Verdi’s Falstaff." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 1, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/franco-zeffirelli-made-his-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Grace Bumbry Made Santuzza Role Debut at Met Opera in Zeffirelli’s Cav Pag." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 29, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/grace-bumbry-made-santuzza-role-debut.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “La Bohème Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Fifth Met Opera Production.” Earth and Space News. Monday, July 20, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/la-boheme-was-franco-zeffirellis-fifth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Luigi Alva Made Met Opera Debut in Zeffirelli’s Falstaff Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 8, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/luigi-alva-made-met-opera-debut-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Only Two of 11 Zeffirelli Productions Are Still Revived at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, May 25, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/only-two-of-11-zeffirelli-productions.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Otello Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Fourth Met Opera Production.” Earth and Space News. Monday, July 13, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/otello-was-franco-zeffirellis-fourth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Tosca Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Sixth Met Opera Production.” Earth and Space News. Monday, July 27, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/tosca-was-franco-zeffirellis-sixth-met.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Turandot Was To Be April 25, 2020, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast. Earth and Space News. Monday, April 20, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/turandot-is-april-25-2020-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Turandot Is March 24, 2018, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, March 19, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/turandot-is-march-24-2018-met-opera.html

Met Opera Chorus @MetOperaChorus. “An amazing 3D view at the set for the first act of Turandot! We'll be on those Peking streets tonight, watching the doomed Prince of Persia make his final march before Calaf takes on the challenge, hits the gong three times, and vows to answer Turandot's three riddles!” Facebook. Nov. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOperaChorus/posts/1455518814524003

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Franco Zeffirelli’s glittering production of Puccini's Turandot returns to cinemas beginning tomorrow July 18 in the U.S. and Canada with varying dates internationally. Great dramatic soprano Nina Stemme takes on the demanding title role, with tenor Marco Berti as Calàf and soprano Anita Hartig as Liù. Check your local listings for dates and times.” Facebook. July 17, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/videos/10160794129165533/

“New Production: Turandot.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 287710 New Production Turandot {132} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/12/1987.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=287710

Plotkin, Fred. “Remembering Franco Zeffirelli (1923-2019).” WQXR > Operavore. June 17, 2019.
Available @ https://www.wqxr.org/story/remembering-franco-zeffirelli-19232019

“United States Premiere: Turandot.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 94190 United States Premiere Turandot {1) Metropolitan Opera House: 11/16/1926.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=94190