I rated it as one of the finest operas ever. It certainly is a stand out in Puccini's works. No other operas written around that time other than other works by Puccini or maybe Richard Strauss at best come close.

 

very much agree, very close to Richard Strauss best operas. Sorry, pushed a wrong button though, should have voted Highly. ( It's late here , I'm tired )

 

I voted "unsure" because, while it is an interesting story, I tried it and did not care for the style of music.

 

Very fine opera, with some glorious music. Hard to like the ice princess much though.

 

She is not a "very real" character but it's how she is part of the plot and her impact on the other characters that make it more enjoyable rather than as a character on her own. Glorious music.

 

I rate it highly. I tired of it fast though
and haven't listened to it in many years.

 

I think it's a fine opera and I rate it quite highly. Puccini is one of those composers I really find writes very interesting music as opposed to many other Italian opera composers who write interesting melodies with rather uninspired orchestral accompaniments.

 

I voted unsure -- all I've ever heard is Nessun Dorma, one by Luciano Pavarotti and another by Placido Domingo and a third rendition by Aretha Franklin.

(I mentioned this in another post a while back. Puccini by the Queen of Soul. Wow!)

So, as far as the rest of the opera is concerned, I'm going to have to look it up. If the rest of the opera is as melodic as this, I should enjoy it.

 

Quite highly - it is for me not the best in Puccini's oeuvre (I prefer Tosca, Butterfly, La Boheme, Il Trittico), but it is still pretty good.

 

I rate it highly myself. It is not, however, above La fanciulla del west (his finest), Tosca, and Madama Butterfly in my humble opinion, but it's quite up there in Puccini's oeuvre.

ArtMusic's last paragraph of his post is interesting in as far as the opera being completed by others (namely Franco Alfano). I immediately thought of Lehar, who was Puccini's friend, and whose music is a rather close cousin to that of the Italian maestro. Lehar was one of the candidates chosen to complete "Turandot" before it was ultimately turned over to Alfano for completion. I would have been interesting to see how Lehar would have approach this project given the opportunity, for he was shifting more towards opera away from operetta as seen in "Giuditta."

 

trivia: it was featured in the latest Mission Impossible, the scene wasn't bad at all

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cu...comment/finally-a-non-embarrassing-classical-music-scene-in-a-blockbuster-movie

 

Puccini's masterpiece, even if incomplete. He's pretty far behind Verdi and Wagner in my affections, but this is probably the most interesting one he wrote.

Honestly pretty sick of Nessun Dorma though.

 

Yep I think at least musically, it's quite different to the other operas. There's a touch of fairy tale magic to it. I like that quality in operas.

 

I've never heard it before - except for Nessun Dorma, which is, of course, inescapable.

 

Puccini was pushing the boundaries of his musical language in Turandot, and I find the result often enchanting. Some of his most sensuously thrilling music is here. I do think Ping, Pang and Pong go on for too long with the least interesting music in the opera, and that the mourning of the death of Liu is rather morbidly overextended. My favorite Puccini opera is La Fanciulla del West, and possibly his greatest may be Madama Butterfly, but Turandot comes close for me. They are all among the 20th century's greatest operas.

I have to say that I don't understand the widespread scorn for Alfano's very competent completion. It's not Puccini but it's full of beautiful and touching music utilizing Puccini's themes effectively, and is stylistically as well-integrated with the rest of the opera as another composer's work could be expected to be. His full original version (before Toscanini's edits) ends thrillingly with Turandot's and Calaf's voices soaring over the ensemble and, in my judgment, should generally be used in performances. Here it is:

Really, now - is that exciting or what? I think Puccini would have smiled and patted Alfano on the back for an impossible job nicely done.

The Berio completion is quite interesting and perhaps more inventive than the Alfano, but that's not always a good thing. It sounds more like Berg or Korngold (or somebody) than Puccini, and ends quietly. At certain moments it resembles Alfano's, and these are presumably the moments for which Puccini left musical sketches.

 

Puccini was pushing the boundaries of his musical language in Turandot, and I find the result often enchanting. Some of his most sensuously thrilling music is here. I do think Ping, Pang and Pong go on for too long with the least interesting music in the opera, and that the mourning of the death of Liu is rather morbidly overextended. My favorite Puccini opera is La Fanciulla del West, and possibly his greatest may be Madama Butterfly, but Turandot comes close for me. They are all among the 20th century's greatest operas.

I have to say that I don't understanding the widespread scorn for Alfano's very competent completion. It's not Puccini but it's full of beautiful and touching music utilizing Puccini's themes effectively, and is stylistically as well-integrated with the rest of the opera as another composer's work could be expected to be. His full original version (before Toscanini's edits) ends thrillingly with Turandot's and Calaf's voices soaring over the ensemble and, in my judgment, should generally be used in performances. Here it is:

Really, now - is that exciting or what? I think Puccini would have smiled and patted Alfano on the back for an impossible job nicely done.

The Berio completion is quite interesting and perhaps more inventive than the Alfano, but that's not always a good thing. It sounds more like Berg or Korngold (or somebody) than Puccini, and ends quietly. At certain moments it resembles Alfano's, and these are presumably the moments for which Puccini left musical sketches.

It's usually scorned by critics who have little talent themselves!

 

Its one of those Operas that I treat as a long tone poem rather than following the story. Beautiful music, absolute shame he never completed it. Also I would have loved to hear his next Opera if he had lived long enough.

 

To me it is a fantastic opera despite the absolutely awful story of barbarity and cruelty, plus the exceedingly unlike me,ting of Turandot's heart at the end. But this is opera not real life! The orchestral score is incredible. Yes the parts with ping pang-pong go on a bit too long but when you hear Karajan conduct them they seem a lot shorter. They are electrifying in his version with the VPO in full cry. Although Alfano was no puccini his ending is the best we have. You can always omit it on CD but in performance it has to be included, unless the conductor is Toscanni! Frankly it is an opera I tend to listen to rather than watch because most Turandots don't look like the most beautiful woman in the world, especially on DVD. I end up wondering why Caliph didn't make off with Liu instead!

 

I rate it highly, even though the completed ending does not completely match the beginning. Turandot's musical language is very colorful (as usual with Puccini), and very innovative (compared to his previous works). I consider Turandot as the conclusion of the late-romantic era (or traditional opera, I cannot find the right word), along with Strauss' work.

 

I have never been a fan of Turandot. It just seemed to me that it only had the one quality aria in it and that aria (perhaps Puccini's greatest) was so close to perfection that all the other music came across as less-than.

 

I hope you mean in Questa regia.