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revealed. They end by threatening Calaf with their are left alone, she rigid as a statue and veiled. Calaf daggers. Shouting is heard, as soldiers drag in Timur calls on this Princess of death and of ice to descend to and Liù, two who must know the Prince’s name. earth. He rushes forward and tears off her veil, to 4 Turandot appears, and they bow down to the Turandot’s anger; he may tear her veil but not touch PUCCINI ground, except for Ping, who comes forward to tell her soul. The Prince takes Turandot in his arms, and her that they now have the means to discover the draws her towards the pavilion, kissing her, but she Prince’s name. Calaf claims that Timur and Liù know draws away, now seeking his pity. 0 Calaf declares nothing, but Liù steps forward and tells Turandot that his love for her, as dawn breaks; he has conquered Turandot she alone knows the stranger’s name and will keep it and her heart has melted. ! For the first time now secret. 5 Calaf tries to protect her and on Turandot’s she sheds tears, telling him of her first fear of him. orders is bound, while Liù is tortured 6 claiming Finally Calaf reveals to her his name. love as the reason for her strength in resistance. She is RIA CALL happy to suffer for her beloved Prince, as the Scene 2 A AS executioner is called for. 7 Eventually she agrees to @ The scene is outside the palace. The Emperor sits M answer the icy-hearted Princess, telling her that, as enthroned at the head of a wide marble staircase. she herself dies, so Turandot will be conquered by Around him are his courtiers, wise men and soldiers. love. She seizes a dagger from a soldier and stabs The crowds gather below, singing praise to the herself, staggering forward to fall dead at Calaf’s Emperor. Turandot now tells her father that she feet. 8 Timur hobbles forward and kneels down by knows the name of the stranger; his name is love. her, begging her to open her eyes, as dawn Calaf runs up to her, embracing her, while the crowd approaches. He prophesies divine vengeance, and scatters flowers and rejoices at the happy outcome. Liù’s body is carried away to the awe of the crowd, seeking pardon for this violence. Timur follows, as Keith Anderson the people lament Liù’s fate. 9 Calaf and Turandot
1 g 957 Recordin
Maria Callas • Eugenio Fernandi Elisabeth Schwarzkopf • Nicola Zaccaria Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan Tullio Serafin
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Great Opera Recordings further with his son. # Now Liù adds her own pleas, tortured and put to death at the hands of a man. She will tearfully begging him to desist, for her sake and that of have her revenge on the suitors that come to woo her his father. She falls to the ground in tears. $ Calaf and never yield to a man. Calaf is defiant, ready to solve Giacomo urges her not to weep and tells her to take Timur away Turandot’s riddles. § The trumpets sound, and with her into the country. % Timur begs him, for the Turandot proceeds. Her first riddle is of something that PUCCINI last time, and is joined by Liù, Ping, Pang and Pong in in the night hovers, a shining phantom, soaring above (1858-1927) his endeavour to save his son from certain death. Calaf the crowd, invoked by all, but vanishing at dawn to be is determined, and, breaking away, sounds the gong reborn in every heart. Calaf declares that the answer is three times. hope. ¶ Her second riddle is of something that is Turandot aflame and yet then cold, which Calaf guesses is blood. • Opera in three acts Act 2 Turandot descends further down the stairs to pose her third riddle of ice given by fire, and fire that Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni after Carlo Gozzi’s theatrical fairy tale Turandot Scene 1 produces ice, a force that would make you free, but yet Last duet and Finale completed by Franco Alfano ^ In a great pavilion Ping, Pang and Pong are enslaves and makes you king. Calaf sees that the answer preparing for whatever may happen, either a wedding or to this is Turandot. ª The crowd applauds his success. º Princess Turandot...... Maria Callas (soprano) a funeral. & Saddened by Turandot’s behaviour, they In anguish Turandot ascends the stairs again, Calaf (The unknown prince)...... Eugenio Fernandi (tenor) lament the fate of China. They sit and examine the demanding that her father, the Emperor, prevent her Liù...... Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano) scrolls for the numbers of victims. * Ping sings of his marriage to this stranger, but the Emperor has given his The Emperor Altoum ...... Giuseppe Nessi (tenor) house in Honan, and all three would like to be away oath and will not hear her pleading. Calaf, however, Timur...... Nicola Zaccaria (bass) from the palace in their own parts of the countryside. ( wants Turandot burning with love. ⁄ He now offers his Ping ...... Mario Borriello (baritone) They lament the state of the world and the madness of own riddle, his name, which she must find before Pang...... Renato Ercolani (tenor) lovers, recalling those who have died, princes from morning; if she succeeds, he will die. Turandot assents Pong / Prince of Persia ...... Piero de Palma (tenor) Samarkand, from India, from Burma and other and Calaf ascends the stairs towards the Emperor ¤ A mandarin...... Giulio Mauri (bass-baritone) countries. ) They long for an end to their difficulties whose praises the people now sing. First voice ...... Elisabetta Fusco (soprano) and those of the kingdom. ¡ Trumpets are heard, Second voice...... Pinuccia Perotti (soprano) heralding the start of a new trial for the hand of Turandot. CD 2 Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan (Chorus Master: Norberto Mola) Scene 2 Act 3 Tullio Serafin ™ In the square in front of the palace the crowd gradually gathers. In the centre is a great marble Scene 1 1 Recorded 9th – 13th and 15th July, 1957 in the Teatro alla Scala, Milan staircase leading upwards, to end under a triple arch. It is night in the palace gardens. To the right is a First issued on Columbia 33CX 1555 through 1557 Mandarins arrive, dressed in blue and gold, and finally pavilion, with a richly embroidered curtain, the ante- the Emperor. £ He announces that he is bound by his chamber to Turandot’s quarters in the palace. Heralds Reissue Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn oath to honour the compact he has made with Turandot. announce the decree that none shall sleep on pain of Special thanks to Maynard F. Bertolet for providing source material Calaf steps forward, ready to try his luck, in spite of the death, as the search for the stranger’s name. 2 Calaf Emperor’s obvious reluctance to see more bloodshed. echoes the words, singing of love and of his name that ¢ The crowd honours the Emperor. A Mandarin steps none shall discover; at daybreak Turandot shall be his. forward and proclaims the royal decree. Turandot shall 3 Ping, Pong and Pang emerge from the bushes, Producer’s Note marry the one of royal lineage who can solve her three followed by other figures. They ask Calaf to say what riddles; the unsuccessful will die. The voices of children he wants; if it is love, then he offers girls that he now The principal sources for the complete recording of Turandot were two sets of first edition British LP pressings. are heard. ∞ Turandot, impassive as a golden statue, leads forward; if it is riches, then they can offer gold and Occasional pops, distortion during loud passages and extraneous noises appear to be inherent in the original master takes her place at the foot of the Imperial throne. She precious stones; if it is glory, he may escape to rule the tapes. looks coldly at the Prince and recounts the reason for Empire from afar. They fear for their own safety, since Mark Obert-Thorn her vow, the fate of Princess Lou Ling, captured, they face torture and death if the Prince’s name is not 8.111334-35 27 8.111334-35 111334-35 bk Turandot EU.qxd 2/11/08 13:23 Page 6
Provence, Edinburgh, Orange and Athens. He sang 1928, 1937, 1938, 1949, 1951), San Carlo, Naples CD 1 77:26 Act 2 rôles such as Zaccaria in Nabucco, Silva in Ernani, (1922-3, 1940-1, 1949-58), Metropolitan, New York Scene 1 Rodolfo in La sonnambula and Sarastro in Zauberflöte. (1924-34), the Rome Opera (1934-43, 1962), Lyric Act 1 ^ Olà, Pang! Olà, Pong! 1:32 For EMI he appears with Callas in recordings of Aida, Opera, Chicago (1955, 1957-58), and numerous other 1 Popolo di Pekino! 2:52 (Ministers) Un ballo in maschera, Il trovatore, La bohème, Il opera houses in Italy and abroad. His repertory was (Mandarin, Crowd, Liù) & O Cina, o Cina 2:07 barbiere di Siviglia, La sonnambula and Norma. vast. He conducted conventional and unconventional 2 Tullio Serafin (1878-1968), born at Rottanova di operas as well as introducing a variety of new works Padre! Mio Padre! 1:30 (Ministers) (The Unknown Prince [Calaf], Liù, Crowd, Timur) Cavarzere, near Venice, was one of the great and worked with numerous famous singers, including * Ho una casa nell’Honan 3:17 conductors of Italian opera. After studying at the Milan Battistini, Shalyapin, Ponselle, Gigli, Callas and 3 Perduta la battaglia 1:11 (Ministers) Conservatory at first he was a violinist in the orchestra Sutherland. His recording career was exhaustive and (Timur, Prince, Liù, Crowd) at La Scala, Milan, then in 1900 at Ferrara began a embraced the HMV (1939) Verdi Requiem as well as ( O mondo, pieno di pazzi innamorati! 1:11 career as a conductor. Engagements followed in Turin both Angel/Columbia Normas (1954 and 1960) with 4 Gira la cote! Gira! 2:31 (Ministers, Chorus) and Rome. Through more than half a century he Callas. (Crowd, Executioner’s men) appeared at Covent Garden, London (1907, 1931, Michael Scott ) Addio, amore! 2:52 1959-60), La Scala, Milan (1910-1914, 1917, 1918, Author of Maria Meneghini Callas 5 Perché tarda la luna! 3:46 (Ministers) 1940, 1946-7), Colón, Buenos Aires (1914, 1919, 1920, (Crowd) ¡ Noi si sogna 0:25 6 Là, sui monti dell’est 1:13 (Ministers) Synopsis 4 (Boys) bestowed on her in the palace. The crowd calls for Scene 2 the executioner’s sword to be sharpened and all is 7 ™ CD 1 5 O giovinetto! 5:10 Gravi, enormi ed imponenti 4:21 excitement. Now they watch the sky, waiting for the (Crowd, Prince, White Priest) (Crowd) moon, the sign of execution, as it rises. 6 The voices of Act 1 children are heard. 7 The procession leading the young 8 Figlio, che fai? 1:36 £ Un giuramento atroce mi costringe 3:16 Prince of Persia to execution enters, now arousing pity (Timur, Prince, Liù, Crowd) (Emperor, Prince) 1 The opera opens by the walls of the great city of in the people, who call on Turandot to grant pardon. She Peking. To the right is a portico decorated with carved appears, and the people bow down, leaving only the 9 Fermo! che fai? T’arresta! 1:51 ¢ Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore! 3:04 figures of monsters, unicorns and a phoenix, with pillars Prince of Persia and Calaf standing. Turandot has no (Ministers [Ping, Pang, Pong], Prince) (Crowd, Mandarin, Boys) rising from the backs of huge tortoises. Below the mercy and with a gesture rejects any appeal for portico a great gong is suspended, while on the ramparts clemency, and the procession moves off. Calaf, 0 Silenzio, olà! 1:22 – In questa reggia 6:21 the heads of victims are displayed. It is sunset and a however, is dazzled by the sight of her beauty, as he and (Handmaids, Ministers, Prince) (Turandot, Crowd, Prince) crowd in the square listens to the words of a Mandarin Timur, with Liù, are left alone. 8 Timur asks his son announcing that Turandot will marry the man of royal what he is doing, but Calaf is resolved to take his ! Guardolo, Pong! 0:58 § Straniero, ascolta! Nella cupa notte 2:28 lineage who can answer her three riddles; he who tries chance as a suitor. The sound of the execution is heard (Ministers, Timur) (Turandot, Prince, Wise Men) and fails will be beheaded. The Prince of Persia has and Timur continues to try to dissuade his son from this failed the test and will die when the moon rises. The enterprise. 9 He is about to sound the gong to proclaim @ Non indugiare! 2:12 ¶ Guizza al pari di fiamma 2:20 crowd disperses in excitement at the only to be pushed his intention, when he is prevented by three masked (Ghosts, Prince, Ministers, Timur) (Turandot, Emperor, Crowd, Liù, Prince, Wise Men) roughly back by the Tartar guards. Among the people is figures, Ping, Pang and Pong, who warn him of the the old man Timur, exiled King of Tartary, who falls, as cruel fate that will be his. 0 A group of palace # Signore, ascolta! 2:25 • Gelo che ti dà foco 2:24 his servant-girl Liù calls for help. 2 Prince Calaf runs handmaidens lean down over the balustrade and call for (Liù) (Turandot, Prince, Wise Men, Crowd) up, recognising his father and helping him to his feet. silence, as Turandot sleeps. ! Ping, Pang and Pong Twelve executioner’s assistants make their way @ $ Non piangere, Liù! 2:16 ª Gloria, o vincitore! 1:01 continue to try to dissuade Calaf and the shadows of (Crowd) forward, as the crowd eagerly awaits the coming those who have died in pursuit of the Princess add their (Prince, Liù, Timur) execution. Timur is delighted to have found his son own urging. Calaf breaks away and is about to strike the % º again. 3 He tells the Prince how Liù has remained Ah! per l’ultima volta! 2:24 Figlio del cielo! 2:55 gong, when the executioner appears above the rampart, (Timur, Liù, Ministers, Prince, Chorus) (Turandot, Emperor, Crowd, Prince) loyal to him, persuaded by a smile Calaf had once holding the head of the Prince of Persia. Timur pleads 8.111334-35 6 3 8.111334-35 111334-35 bk Turandot EU.qxd 2/11/08 13:23 Page 4
⁄ Tre enigmi m’hai proposto! 2:15 6 L’amore? … Tanto amore, wisely, she dropped it from her repertory. Why she made appearance was with this company on their visit to (Prince, Emperor) segreto e inconfessato 3:20 this recording in 1957 was perhaps because she thought London in 1947 when she sang Donna Elvira in Don (Turandot, Liù, Ping, Prince, Crowd) recording it was different from singing it in the theatre Giovanni and Marzelline in Fidelio. She then joined the ¤ Ai tuoi piedi ci prostriam 2:21 and would do her voice no irreparable damage. fledgling Covent Garden Company, where for five (Crowd) 7 Tu, che di gel sei cinta 5:32 Nevertheless the following year she seems to have had seasons she sang a variety of rôles, mostly in English. (Liù, Crowd, Prince, Timur, Ping) second thoughts for she told New York radio interviewer Alongside these appearances, Schwarzkopf sang at the CD 2 41:16 Harry Fleetwood, ‘I sang it all over Italy, hoping to God Salzburg Festival (1946-1964), La Scala, Milan (1948- 8 Liù … bontà! 2:57 that it wouldn’t wreck my voice. Because... [I]t’s not 1963), San Francisco (1955-1964) and, finally, the Act 3 (Timur, Ministers, Crowd) really very good for the voice… It’s ruined quite a few.’ Metropolitan in New York in 1964. She was greatly Scene 1 1 9 We note her ability in contrasting her registers and admired in the rôles of the Marschallin, Fiordiligi, the Così comanda Turandot 3:23 Principessa di morte! 3:21 how responsive her voice is across the widest Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and Donna Elvira. (Heralds, Distant voices) (Prince, Turandot) intervals.Tullio Serafin’s tempi are slightly faster than Schwarzkopf also created the rôle of Anne Trulove in 2 Nessun dorma! 2:54 0 Che è mai di me? Perduta! 3:14 they were in Buenos Aires, so enabling her to relinquish Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress in September 1951. (Prince, Women’s voices) (Turandot, Prince, Chorus) top notes at the end of phrases which threaten to get out She also had a distinguished parallel career as a Lieder of control. Again her subtlety is apparent. In In questa singer she continued to give master-classes and 3 Tu che guardi le stelle 3:49 ! Del primo pianto, si … La mia gloria reggia, on the phrase O principi, che o luoghi caravane, adjudicate in major competitions. A fiercely self-critical (Ministers, Prince, Women, Crowd, Soldiers) è il tuo amplesso! 5:10 as we have noted before, how instinctively she responds artist, Schwarzkopf was extremely demanding of herself (Turandot, Prince) to the caravan-like rhythm Puccini suggests in the and her art. She was the wife of the impresario and 4 Principessa divina! 2:45 accompaniment; this is the kind of musical effectiveness recording producer Walter Legge whom she married in (Ping, Turandot, Prince, Liù, Crowd) Scene 2 that no other Turandot on record shows herself capable 1953, becoming a naturalised British subject. She was @ Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore! 3:30 of. By this stage of her career she was obviously created a DBE in 1992. 5 Quel nome! 1:21 (Crowd, Turandot) bothered by the problem of keeping her voice steady. Eugenio Fernandi (1922-1991) made his operatic (Ping, Liù, Timur, Prince, Crowd, Turandot) Walter Legge, the producer of the recording, tells how début in 1954 in Lisbon as the Duke in Rigoletto. In one day at the Biffi Scala he and his wife, Elisabeth 1958 he joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Schwarzkopf, who sings Liù, were dining with the where he continued to make a series of highly successful Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924) Meneghinis, when Callas turned to Schwarzkopf performances, after his début there as Pinkerton in Turandot demanding to know ‘how you sing top As and Bs and Madama Butterfly. It has been suggested that his make a diminuendo on them. Walter says mine make collaboration in the recording of Turandot with Callas Puccini’s Turandot was the sixteenth complete opera or in the clean articulation of ornaments. It does not him sea-sick’ Thereupon, much to the astonishment, if and Schwarzkopf was made at too early a stage in his recording Columbia/Angel made with the Callas and the compare with a rôle like Norma, which calls for not fright, of the waiters and the other diners, she and career, on which it had a deleterious effect. company of La Scala. Unlike almost every other famous dramatic accents for far longer stretches, and for a Schwarzkopf, stood up and began exchanging top notes, Born in Athens, after studying at the Conservatory, soprano of her day, from Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (1915- complete mastery of fioritura through every dynamic and feeling each other in turn, ‘their diaphragms, lower Nicola Zaccaria (1923-2007), made his début in 1949 2006) to Joan Sutherland [b.1926] and Montserrat shading from pianissimo to fortissimo. jaws, throats and ribs’. After a bit Callas claimed she had as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor. Four years later Caballé [b.1933], Callas never ventured a contemporary In the first two years of her career in Italy Callas ‘got it’, but perhaps because both singers’ methods were he appeared at La Scala, Milan, as Sparafucile in opera; Turandot, first performed in 1926 was the only appeared as Turandot 21 times. A recorded fragment sui generis, she did not effect a cure. Rigoletto. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s he appeared work she sang in younger than she was herself. Turandot survives from one of the last performances she sang in The German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in many leading Italian opera seasons: at Florence, is the perfect vehicle for an ample-sized dramatic 1949 at the Colón, Buenos Aires. She manages the lower (1915-2006) studied at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik Verona and Rome in the typical Italian repertory. In soprano with a steady, steely and brilliant voice rising passages, which pass back and forth into the chest and later with the soprano Maria Ivogün, making her 1956 he was a guest at the Vienna Staatsoper and at the easily to top C. Those of us who saw the truly great register, more expressively than Turandots are usually début as one of the Flowermaidens in Parsifal with the festival in Salzburg; and in 1957 at Covent Garden with Turandot of Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005), will know how capable of, but she has a whole battery of effects that she Städtische Oper, Berlin, in 1938. Originally a lyrical Callas’s Norma he was Oroveso and in 1959 Creon with ideally it requires a vocal glamour equivalent of a boxer cannot employ effectively; all we are conscious of is her soprano she undertook rôles such as Adele in Die her Medea. His career was wide and embraced Cologne, with something of his horse-power. It does not need singing too strenuously. In the days of her youth when Fledermaus, Musetta in La bohème and Zerbinetta in Brussels, Ghent, Moscow, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, much in the way of nuance or refinement and no great she had to pursue her career without vocal compromises Ariadne auf Naxos when she joined the Vienna State Monte Carlo, Berlin and Dallas, which he returned to demands are made on the art of legato and portamento, it may have been necessary but as soon as she could, Opera under Karl Böhm in 1943. Her first overseas often until the 1980s, as well as festivals at Aix-en- 8.111334-35 45 8.111334-35 111334-35 bk Turandot EU.qxd 2/11/08 13:23 Page 4
⁄ Tre enigmi m’hai proposto! 2:15 6 L’amore? … Tanto amore, wisely, she dropped it from her repertory. Why she made appearance was with this company on their visit to (Prince, Emperor) segreto e inconfessato 3:20 this recording in 1957 was perhaps because she thought London in 1947 when she sang Donna Elvira in Don (Turandot, Liù, Ping, Prince, Crowd) recording it was different from singing it in the theatre Giovanni and Marzelline in Fidelio. She then joined the ¤ Ai tuoi piedi ci prostriam 2:21 and would do her voice no irreparable damage. fledgling Covent Garden Company, where for five (Crowd) 7 Tu, che di gel sei cinta 5:32 Nevertheless the following year she seems to have had seasons she sang a variety of rôles, mostly in English. (Liù, Crowd, Prince, Timur, Ping) second thoughts for she told New York radio interviewer Alongside these appearances, Schwarzkopf sang at the CD 2 41:16 Harry Fleetwood, ‘I sang it all over Italy, hoping to God Salzburg Festival (1946-1964), La Scala, Milan (1948- 8 Liù … bontà! 2:57 that it wouldn’t wreck my voice. Because... [I]t’s not 1963), San Francisco (1955-1964) and, finally, the Act 3 (Timur, Ministers, Crowd) really very good for the voice… It’s ruined quite a few.’ Metropolitan in New York in 1964. She was greatly Scene 1 1 9 We note her ability in contrasting her registers and admired in the rôles of the Marschallin, Fiordiligi, the Così comanda Turandot 3:23 Principessa di morte! 3:21 how responsive her voice is across the widest Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and Donna Elvira. (Heralds, Distant voices) (Prince, Turandot) intervals.Tullio Serafin’s tempi are slightly faster than Schwarzkopf also created the rôle of Anne Trulove in 2 Nessun dorma! 2:54 0 Che è mai di me? Perduta! 3:14 they were in Buenos Aires, so enabling her to relinquish Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress in September 1951. (Prince, Women’s voices) (Turandot, Prince, Chorus) top notes at the end of phrases which threaten to get out She also had a distinguished parallel career as a Lieder of control. Again her subtlety is apparent. In In questa singer she continued to give master-classes and 3 Tu che guardi le stelle 3:49 ! Del primo pianto, si … La mia gloria reggia, on the phrase O principi, che o luoghi caravane, adjudicate in major competitions. A fiercely self-critical (Ministers, Prince, Women, Crowd, Soldiers) è il tuo amplesso! 5:10 as we have noted before, how instinctively she responds artist, Schwarzkopf was extremely demanding of herself (Turandot, Prince) to the caravan-like rhythm Puccini suggests in the and her art. She was the wife of the impresario and 4 Principessa divina! 2:45 accompaniment; this is the kind of musical effectiveness recording producer Walter Legge whom she married in (Ping, Turandot, Prince, Liù, Crowd) Scene 2 that no other Turandot on record shows herself capable 1953, becoming a naturalised British subject. She was @ Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore! 3:30 of. By this stage of her career she was obviously created a DBE in 1992. 5 Quel nome! 1:21 (Crowd, Turandot) bothered by the problem of keeping her voice steady. Eugenio Fernandi (1922-1991) made his operatic (Ping, Liù, Timur, Prince, Crowd, Turandot) Walter Legge, the producer of the recording, tells how début in 1954 in Lisbon as the Duke in Rigoletto. In one day at the Biffi Scala he and his wife, Elisabeth 1958 he joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Schwarzkopf, who sings Liù, were dining with the where he continued to make a series of highly successful Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924) Meneghinis, when Callas turned to Schwarzkopf performances, after his début there as Pinkerton in Turandot demanding to know ‘how you sing top As and Bs and Madama Butterfly. It has been suggested that his make a diminuendo on them. Walter says mine make collaboration in the recording of Turandot with Callas Puccini’s Turandot was the sixteenth complete opera or in the clean articulation of ornaments. It does not him sea-sick’ Thereupon, much to the astonishment, if and Schwarzkopf was made at too early a stage in his recording Columbia/Angel made with the Callas and the compare with a rôle like Norma, which calls for not fright, of the waiters and the other diners, she and career, on which it had a deleterious effect. company of La Scala. Unlike almost every other famous dramatic accents for far longer stretches, and for a Schwarzkopf, stood up and began exchanging top notes, Born in Athens, after studying at the Conservatory, soprano of her day, from Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (1915- complete mastery of fioritura through every dynamic and feeling each other in turn, ‘their diaphragms, lower Nicola Zaccaria (1923-2007), made his début in 1949 2006) to Joan Sutherland [b.1926] and Montserrat shading from pianissimo to fortissimo. jaws, throats and ribs’. After a bit Callas claimed she had as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor. Four years later Caballé [b.1933], Callas never ventured a contemporary In the first two years of her career in Italy Callas ‘got it’, but perhaps because both singers’ methods were he appeared at La Scala, Milan, as Sparafucile in opera; Turandot, first performed in 1926 was the only appeared as Turandot 21 times. A recorded fragment sui generis, she did not effect a cure. Rigoletto. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s he appeared work she sang in younger than she was herself. Turandot survives from one of the last performances she sang in The German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in many leading Italian opera seasons: at Florence, is the perfect vehicle for an ample-sized dramatic 1949 at the Colón, Buenos Aires. She manages the lower (1915-2006) studied at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik Verona and Rome in the typical Italian repertory. In soprano with a steady, steely and brilliant voice rising passages, which pass back and forth into the chest and later with the soprano Maria Ivogün, making her 1956 he was a guest at the Vienna Staatsoper and at the easily to top C. Those of us who saw the truly great register, more expressively than Turandots are usually début as one of the Flowermaidens in Parsifal with the festival in Salzburg; and in 1957 at Covent Garden with Turandot of Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005), will know how capable of, but she has a whole battery of effects that she Städtische Oper, Berlin, in 1938. Originally a lyrical Callas’s Norma he was Oroveso and in 1959 Creon with ideally it requires a vocal glamour equivalent of a boxer cannot employ effectively; all we are conscious of is her soprano she undertook rôles such as Adele in Die her Medea. His career was wide and embraced Cologne, with something of his horse-power. It does not need singing too strenuously. In the days of her youth when Fledermaus, Musetta in La bohème and Zerbinetta in Brussels, Ghent, Moscow, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, much in the way of nuance or refinement and no great she had to pursue her career without vocal compromises Ariadne auf Naxos when she joined the Vienna State Monte Carlo, Berlin and Dallas, which he returned to demands are made on the art of legato and portamento, it may have been necessary but as soon as she could, Opera under Karl Böhm in 1943. Her first overseas often until the 1980s, as well as festivals at Aix-en- 8.111334-35 45 8.111334-35 111334-35 bk Turandot EU.qxd 2/11/08 13:23 Page 6
Provence, Edinburgh, Orange and Athens. He sang 1928, 1937, 1938, 1949, 1951), San Carlo, Naples CD 1 77:26 Act 2 rôles such as Zaccaria in Nabucco, Silva in Ernani, (1922-3, 1940-1, 1949-58), Metropolitan, New York Scene 1 Rodolfo in La sonnambula and Sarastro in Zauberflöte. (1924-34), the Rome Opera (1934-43, 1962), Lyric Act 1 ^ Olà, Pang! Olà, Pong! 1:32 For EMI he appears with Callas in recordings of Aida, Opera, Chicago (1955, 1957-58), and numerous other 1 Popolo di Pekino! 2:52 (Ministers) Un ballo in maschera, Il trovatore, La bohème, Il opera houses in Italy and abroad. His repertory was (Mandarin, Crowd, Liù) & O Cina, o Cina 2:07 barbiere di Siviglia, La sonnambula and Norma. vast. He conducted conventional and unconventional 2 Tullio Serafin (1878-1968), born at Rottanova di operas as well as introducing a variety of new works Padre! Mio Padre! 1:30 (Ministers) (The Unknown Prince [Calaf], Liù, Crowd, Timur) Cavarzere, near Venice, was one of the great and worked with numerous famous singers, including * Ho una casa nell’Honan 3:17 conductors of Italian opera. After studying at the Milan Battistini, Shalyapin, Ponselle, Gigli, Callas and 3 Perduta la battaglia 1:11 (Ministers) Conservatory at first he was a violinist in the orchestra Sutherland. His recording career was exhaustive and (Timur, Prince, Liù, Crowd) at La Scala, Milan, then in 1900 at Ferrara began a embraced the HMV (1939) Verdi Requiem as well as ( O mondo, pieno di pazzi innamorati! 1:11 career as a conductor. Engagements followed in Turin both Angel/Columbia Normas (1954 and 1960) with 4 Gira la cote! Gira! 2:31 (Ministers, Chorus) and Rome. Through more than half a century he Callas. (Crowd, Executioner’s men) appeared at Covent Garden, London (1907, 1931, Michael Scott ) Addio, amore! 2:52 1959-60), La Scala, Milan (1910-1914, 1917, 1918, Author of Maria Meneghini Callas 5 Perché tarda la luna! 3:46 (Ministers) 1940, 1946-7), Colón, Buenos Aires (1914, 1919, 1920, (Crowd) ¡ Noi si sogna 0:25 6 Là, sui monti dell’est 1:13 (Ministers) Synopsis 4 (Boys) bestowed on her in the palace. The crowd calls for Scene 2 the executioner’s sword to be sharpened and all is 7 ™ CD 1 5 O giovinetto! 5:10 Gravi, enormi ed imponenti 4:21 excitement. Now they watch the sky, waiting for the (Crowd, Prince, White Priest) (Crowd) moon, the sign of execution, as it rises. 6 The voices of Act 1 children are heard. 7 The procession leading the young 8 Figlio, che fai? 1:36 £ Un giuramento atroce mi costringe 3:16 Prince of Persia to execution enters, now arousing pity (Timur, Prince, Liù, Crowd) (Emperor, Prince) 1 The opera opens by the walls of the great city of in the people, who call on Turandot to grant pardon. She Peking. To the right is a portico decorated with carved appears, and the people bow down, leaving only the 9 Fermo! che fai? T’arresta! 1:51 ¢ Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore! 3:04 figures of monsters, unicorns and a phoenix, with pillars Prince of Persia and Calaf standing. Turandot has no (Ministers [Ping, Pang, Pong], Prince) (Crowd, Mandarin, Boys) rising from the backs of huge tortoises. Below the mercy and with a gesture rejects any appeal for portico a great gong is suspended, while on the ramparts clemency, and the procession moves off. Calaf, 0 Silenzio, olà! 1:22 – In questa reggia 6:21 the heads of victims are displayed. It is sunset and a however, is dazzled by the sight of her beauty, as he and (Handmaids, Ministers, Prince) (Turandot, Crowd, Prince) crowd in the square listens to the words of a Mandarin Timur, with Liù, are left alone. 8 Timur asks his son announcing that Turandot will marry the man of royal what he is doing, but Calaf is resolved to take his ! Guardolo, Pong! 0:58 § Straniero, ascolta! Nella cupa notte 2:28 lineage who can answer her three riddles; he who tries chance as a suitor. The sound of the execution is heard (Ministers, Timur) (Turandot, Prince, Wise Men) and fails will be beheaded. The Prince of Persia has and Timur continues to try to dissuade his son from this failed the test and will die when the moon rises. The enterprise. 9 He is about to sound the gong to proclaim @ Non indugiare! 2:12 ¶ Guizza al pari di fiamma 2:20 crowd disperses in excitement at the only to be pushed his intention, when he is prevented by three masked (Ghosts, Prince, Ministers, Timur) (Turandot, Emperor, Crowd, Liù, Prince, Wise Men) roughly back by the Tartar guards. Among the people is figures, Ping, Pang and Pong, who warn him of the the old man Timur, exiled King of Tartary, who falls, as cruel fate that will be his. 0 A group of palace # Signore, ascolta! 2:25 • Gelo che ti dà foco 2:24 his servant-girl Liù calls for help. 2 Prince Calaf runs handmaidens lean down over the balustrade and call for (Liù) (Turandot, Prince, Wise Men, Crowd) up, recognising his father and helping him to his feet. silence, as Turandot sleeps. ! Ping, Pang and Pong Twelve executioner’s assistants make their way @ $ Non piangere, Liù! 2:16 ª Gloria, o vincitore! 1:01 continue to try to dissuade Calaf and the shadows of (Crowd) forward, as the crowd eagerly awaits the coming those who have died in pursuit of the Princess add their (Prince, Liù, Timur) execution. Timur is delighted to have found his son own urging. Calaf breaks away and is about to strike the % º again. 3 He tells the Prince how Liù has remained Ah! per l’ultima volta! 2:24 Figlio del cielo! 2:55 gong, when the executioner appears above the rampart, (Timur, Liù, Ministers, Prince, Chorus) (Turandot, Emperor, Crowd, Prince) loyal to him, persuaded by a smile Calaf had once holding the head of the Prince of Persia. Timur pleads 8.111334-35 6 3 8.111334-35 111334-35 bk Turandot EU.qxd 2/11/08 13:23 Page 2
Great Opera Recordings further with his son. # Now Liù adds her own pleas, tortured and put to death at the hands of a man. She will tearfully begging him to desist, for her sake and that of have her revenge on the suitors that come to woo her his father. She falls to the ground in tears. $ Calaf and never yield to a man. Calaf is defiant, ready to solve Giacomo urges her not to weep and tells her to take Timur away Turandot’s riddles. § The trumpets sound, and with her into the country. % Timur begs him, for the Turandot proceeds. Her first riddle is of something that PUCCINI last time, and is joined by Liù, Ping, Pang and Pong in in the night hovers, a shining phantom, soaring above (1858-1927) his endeavour to save his son from certain death. Calaf the crowd, invoked by all, but vanishing at dawn to be is determined, and, breaking away, sounds the gong reborn in every heart. Calaf declares that the answer is three times. hope. ¶ Her second riddle is of something that is Turandot aflame and yet then cold, which Calaf guesses is blood. • Opera in three acts Act 2 Turandot descends further down the stairs to pose her third riddle of ice given by fire, and fire that Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni after Carlo Gozzi’s theatrical fairy tale Turandot Scene 1 produces ice, a force that would make you free, but yet Last duet and Finale completed by Franco Alfano ^ In a great pavilion Ping, Pang and Pong are enslaves and makes you king. Calaf sees that the answer preparing for whatever may happen, either a wedding or to this is Turandot. ª The crowd applauds his success. º Princess Turandot...... Maria Callas (soprano) a funeral. & Saddened by Turandot’s behaviour, they In anguish Turandot ascends the stairs again, Calaf (The unknown prince)...... Eugenio Fernandi (tenor) lament the fate of China. They sit and examine the demanding that her father, the Emperor, prevent her Liù...... Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano) scrolls for the numbers of victims. * Ping sings of his marriage to this stranger, but the Emperor has given his The Emperor Altoum ...... Giuseppe Nessi (tenor) house in Honan, and all three would like to be away oath and will not hear her pleading. Calaf, however, Timur...... Nicola Zaccaria (bass) from the palace in their own parts of the countryside. ( wants Turandot burning with love. ⁄ He now offers his Ping ...... Mario Borriello (baritone) They lament the state of the world and the madness of own riddle, his name, which she must find before Pang...... Renato Ercolani (tenor) lovers, recalling those who have died, princes from morning; if she succeeds, he will die. Turandot assents Pong / Prince of Persia ...... Piero de Palma (tenor) Samarkand, from India, from Burma and other and Calaf ascends the stairs towards the Emperor ¤ A mandarin...... Giulio Mauri (bass-baritone) countries. ) They long for an end to their difficulties whose praises the people now sing. First voice ...... Elisabetta Fusco (soprano) and those of the kingdom. ¡ Trumpets are heard, Second voice...... Pinuccia Perotti (soprano) heralding the start of a new trial for the hand of Turandot. CD 2 Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan (Chorus Master: Norberto Mola) Scene 2 Act 3 Tullio Serafin ™ In the square in front of the palace the crowd gradually gathers. In the centre is a great marble Scene 1 1 Recorded 9th – 13th and 15th July, 1957 in the Teatro alla Scala, Milan staircase leading upwards, to end under a triple arch. It is night in the palace gardens. To the right is a First issued on Columbia 33CX 1555 through 1557 Mandarins arrive, dressed in blue and gold, and finally pavilion, with a richly embroidered curtain, the ante- the Emperor. £ He announces that he is bound by his chamber to Turandot’s quarters in the palace. Heralds Reissue Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn oath to honour the compact he has made with Turandot. announce the decree that none shall sleep on pain of Special thanks to Maynard F. Bertolet for providing source material Calaf steps forward, ready to try his luck, in spite of the death, as the search for the stranger’s name. 2 Calaf Emperor’s obvious reluctance to see more bloodshed. echoes the words, singing of love and of his name that ¢ The crowd honours the Emperor. A Mandarin steps none shall discover; at daybreak Turandot shall be his. forward and proclaims the royal decree. Turandot shall 3 Ping, Pong and Pang emerge from the bushes, Producer’s Note marry the one of royal lineage who can solve her three followed by other figures. They ask Calaf to say what riddles; the unsuccessful will die. The voices of children he wants; if it is love, then he offers girls that he now The principal sources for the complete recording of Turandot were two sets of first edition British LP pressings. are heard. ∞ Turandot, impassive as a golden statue, leads forward; if it is riches, then they can offer gold and Occasional pops, distortion during loud passages and extraneous noises appear to be inherent in the original master takes her place at the foot of the Imperial throne. She precious stones; if it is glory, he may escape to rule the tapes. looks coldly at the Prince and recounts the reason for Empire from afar. They fear for their own safety, since Mark Obert-Thorn her vow, the fate of Princess Lou Ling, captured, they face torture and death if the Prince’s name is not 8.111334-35 27 8.111334-35 111334-35 bk Turandot EU.qxd 2/11/08 13:23 Page 8
revealed. They end by threatening Calaf with their are left alone, she rigid as a statue and veiled. Calaf daggers. Shouting is heard, as soldiers drag in Timur calls on this Princess of death and of ice to descend to and Liù, two who must know the Prince’s name. earth. He rushes forward and tears off her veil, to 4 Turandot appears, and they bow down to the Turandot’s anger; he may tear her veil but not touch PUCCINI ground, except for Ping, who comes forward to tell her soul. The Prince takes Turandot in his arms, and her that they now have the means to discover the draws her towards the pavilion, kissing her, but she Prince’s name. Calaf claims that Timur and Liù know draws away, now seeking his pity. 0 Calaf declares nothing, but Liù steps forward and tells Turandot that his love for her, as dawn breaks; he has conquered Turandot she alone knows the stranger’s name and will keep it and her heart has melted. ! For the first time now secret. 5 Calaf tries to protect her and on Turandot’s she sheds tears, telling him of her first fear of him. orders is bound, while Liù is tortured 6 claiming Finally Calaf reveals to her his name. love as the reason for her strength in resistance. She is RIA CALL happy to suffer for her beloved Prince, as the Scene 2 A AS executioner is called for. 7 Eventually she agrees to @ The scene is outside the palace. The Emperor sits M answer the icy-hearted Princess, telling her that, as enthroned at the head of a wide marble staircase. she herself dies, so Turandot will be conquered by Around him are his courtiers, wise men and soldiers. love. She seizes a dagger from a soldier and stabs The crowds gather below, singing praise to the herself, staggering forward to fall dead at Calaf’s Emperor. Turandot now tells her father that she feet. 8 Timur hobbles forward and kneels down by knows the name of the stranger; his name is love. her, begging her to open her eyes, as dawn Calaf runs up to her, embracing her, while the crowd approaches. He prophesies divine vengeance, and scatters flowers and rejoices at the happy outcome. Liù’s body is carried away to the awe of the crowd, seeking pardon for this violence. Timur follows, as Keith Anderson the people lament Liù’s fate. 9 Calaf and Turandot
1 g 957 Recordin
Maria Callas • Eugenio Fernandi Elisabeth Schwarzkopf • Nicola Zaccaria Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan Tullio Serafin
8.111334-35 8 G R E A T
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2 CDs NAXOS Historical PUCCINI: Turandot 8.111334-35 Time Playing 1:58:42 MONO Act 1Act 1I 33:17 44:09 Act 1II 41:16 @ ADD % ¤ - - - 8.111334-35 CD 11 ^ CD 2 77:26 1 41:16 Giacomo (1858-1924) Tullio Serafin Tullio Turandot PUCCINI , in 1926, first performed that was younger in which Callas sang work was the only in the Teatro alla Scala,Teatro Milan in the Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala,Chorus and Orchestra Milan July, 9th – 13th and 15th Recorded 1957 Turandot Princess TurandotPrincess ...... Maria Callas prince)Calaf (The unknown ...... Eugenio Fernandi Liù...... Schwarzkopf Elisabeth Timur ...... Zaccaria Nicola Altoum The Emperor ...... Giuseppe Nessi www.naxos.com Puccini’s Puccini’s than herself and is a perfect vehicle for a dramatic soprano with a steady, a dramatic for vehicle than herself and is a perfect and brilliant voice steely of rising to top C.Althoughcapable title rôle on stage in demanding she had last sung the strenuously 1949, 1957 recording. effective and musically in this dramatically subtlety is apparent her Schwarzkopf complement Callas as the legendary (Calaf) perfectly icy Chinese princess whose and Fernandi (Liù) of love. heart the power is melted by Reissue Producer and Restoration Engineer:Reissue Producer Obert-Thorn Mark F. material source Special thanks to Maynard Bertolet providing for photo:Cover Maria Callas (Private Collection)
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NAXOS Historical Callas • Fernandi • Schwarzkopf • Serafin 8.111334-35