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Home , Giulio Ricordi, Giuseppe Adami, Il tabarro, Renato Simoni, Turandot, Turandot (Busoni)

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- 3 3 Turandot Synopsis Characters

ACT I At sunset, outside the Imperial Palace in Peking, a Princess Turandot Mandarin reads an edict to the crowd: any prince seeking to [TOO-rahn-doht] marry the Princess Turandot must answer three riddles. If he dramatic fails, he must die ( Popolo di Pekino! ). The most recent Looking for a prince suitor, the Prince of Persia, is to be executed at the moon’s to marry, but will rising; bloodthirsty citizens urge on the executioner ( Gira la only marry the cote! ). In the tumult, a slave girl, Liù, kneels by her aged prince who solves master, who has fallen from exhaustion. A handsome youth, her three riddles. Calaf, recognizes the old man as his long lost father, , vanquished King of Tartary. When Timur reveals that only The Unknown Prince, Calaf Liù has remained faithful to him, Calaf asks why. She replies [KAH-laf] that once, long ago, Calaf smiled at her. As the sky darkens, Son of Timur who was forced into the mob cries again for blood but greets the moon with exile. Solves Turandot’s riddles; sudden fearful silence. The onlookers are moved when the she declares his name is Love . Prince of Persia passes by, and they call upon the princess to spare him. Calaf demands that she present herself to the Liù [lee-YOO] crowd. Turandot appears, and with a contemptuous gesture Slave girl who is faithful to Calaf; she orders that the execution proceed. Then she vanishes. later she commits suicide. As the death cry is heard from the distance, Calaf, transfixed by the beauty of the unattainable princess, strides to the Timur [tee-MOOR] gong that announces a new suitor. Suddenly Turandot’s The exiled King of Tartary. three ministers, Ping, Pang, and Pong, materialize to discourage him. When Timur and the tearful Liù also beg The Emperor Altoum him not to risk his life ( Signore, ascolta! ), Calaf tries to [AHL-toh-oom] tenor The father of Princess Turandot. comfort them ( Non piangere, Liù! ). B ut as their pleas intensify ( Ah! Per l'ultima volta! ), he strikes the gong three times and calls Turandot’s name. Intermission ACT II In their Palace apartments, Ping, Pang, and Pong lament Turandot’s bloody reign, praying that love will conquer her icy heart and restore peace ( Ola, Pang! Ola, Ping Pong! ). The three let their thoughts wander to their peaceful Grand Chancellor of China. country homes ( Ho una casa nell'Honan ), but the noise of the populace gathering to hear Turandot question the new Pang tenor challenger calls them back to reality. Supreme lord of provisions.

Within the walls of the Imperial Palace, the old Emperor, Pong tenor perched on a high throne, vainly asks Calaf to reconsider. Supreme lord of Imperial Kitchen. Heralded by a chorus of children, Turandot enters to • describe how her beautiful ancestor, Princess Lou-Ling, was Mandarin abducted and killed by a conquering prince; in revenge, she Prince of Persia has turned against men and determined that none shall ever Guards possess her ( ). Facing Calaf, she poses Priests her first question: What is born each night and dies each Handmaidens dawn? “Hope,” Calaf answers, correctly. Unnerved, Ghosts of Suitors Turandot continues: What flickers red and warm like a flame, Children yet is not a flame? “Blood,” Calaf replies after a moment’s Executioner —Adapted from Opera News pause. Shaken, Turandot delivers the Meet the Composer by Jill Leahy third riddle: What is like ice but burns? Tense silence prevails until Calaf Giacomo Antonio triumphantly cries, “Turandot!” While the Domenico Michele crowd expresses thanks, the princess Secondo Maria vainly begs her father not to give her to Puccini the stranger ( Figlio del Cielo! ). Hoping (December 22, 1858 – to win her love, Calaf offers Turandot a November 29, 1924) challenge of his own: if she can learn his was a fifth generation name by dawn, he will forfeit his life. musician and was Intermission considered, after , to ACT III In the Imperial Gardens, Calaf be the most hears a proclamation: on pain of death no Giacomo Puccini and important composer By Menerbes - Archives Arturo Toscanini, Parme, Public Domain, one in Peking shall sleep until Turandot of . https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5112818 learns the stranger’s name ( Nessun Puccini is credited with bringing the style to dorma! ). Calaf foresees victory for his opera because his subjects and characters portray love, but Ping, Pang, and Pong try to everyday life. His are known for their bribe him to leave the city. As the fearful memorable melodies, which are even recognizable to mob threatens him with daggers to learn people who don’t listen to opera. Remember the film his name, soldiers drag in Liù and Timur; music that soared in the background in Moonstruck, Calaf tries to convince the mob that or the climactic scene in Bend it Like Beckham ? neither of them knows his secret. When Turandot appears, commanding the During a lunch in March 1920, Puccini and the dazed Timur to speak, Liù cries out that librettists Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni she alone knows the stranger’s identity discussed the story of Turandot for an opera and and will never reveal it. Though tortured, agreed to collaborate. Over the next few years, she remains silent. Impressed by such Puccini completed Acts I and II. By March 1924, he fortitude, Turandot asks Liù’s secret. completed the orchestration for all of Act III up to the “Love,” replies the girl. When the soldiers death of Liù. It was there that he struggled with the intensify the torture, Liù tells Turandot final duet between Turandot and Calaf. In a letter to that she, too, will know the joys of love Adami, Puccini wrote that the duet "must be grand, and then snatches a dagger and kills bold, unforeseen" and that it "must cling to the herself ( ). The fantastic to the limit. It must be something great, crowd, fearing her ghost, forms her audacious and unexpected, and not leave things funeral procession. Turandot, veiled by simply as they are. It must be a great duet—these her attendants, remains alone to confront two beings, who stand, so to speak, outside the Calaf, who tears the covering from her world, are transformed into humans through love and face and impetuously kisses her this love must take possession of everybody on the (Principessa di morte! ). Knowing stage in an orchestral peroration." Sadly, Puccini died emotion for the first time ( Che è mai di of throat cancer before he could fulfill his wishes. me? ), Turandot weeps ( Del primo pianto ). Calaf, now sure of winning her, Composer completed the opera by reveals his identity. composing the final duet and the concluding choral scene, based on Puccini’s sketches. At Turandot’s Once again before the Emperor’s throne, premiere at in on April 25, 1926, Turandot declares she knows the conductor Arturo Toscanini ended the performance stranger’s name: it is Love ( So il tuo with Liù’s death, laid down his baton, and announced: nome! ). The court salutes the power of "Qui finisce l'opera, perché a questo punto il love and life. maestro è morto. " ("Here the opera ends,

—Adapted from Opera News because at this point the maestro died.") Pittsburgh Opera Education Meet the Librettists by Jill Leahy thanks our generous supporters: Renato Simoni (September 5, 1875 – EQT Foundation, July 5, 1952) was an 2017 Student Matinee Sponsor

Italian journalist, James and Electra Agras playwright, writer, Allegheny Regional Asset District and theater critic. Anonymous Foundation Simoni suggested The Olga Barry Fund the fairytale The Frick Fund of the Buhl Foundation Simoni, Puccini, and Adami Turandotte (by the The Jack Buncher Foundation Venetian author ) to Puccini as suitable The Anne L. & George H. Clapp material for a lyric opera. Simoni devoted his entire Charitable Trust career to theater. He was an editor and critic at L'Adige , The Bob Crewe Foundation a Veronese newspaper in his hometown. In 1902, he Davis Vision The Alice M. Ditson Fund wrote one of his best comedies, La Vedova (The Eat ‘n Park Hospitality Group, Inc. Widow ), followed by four other plays. In 1914, he Dr. Donald R. and Nora Barry Fischer succeeded John Pozza as an author and critic at Dr. Freddie and Hilda Fu Corriere della Sera , one of ’s oldest newspapers. The Grable Foundation Simoni became one of Italy’s foremost drama critics and The Hearst Foundation also held a position as a director for a weekly magazine, Hefren-Tillotson, Inc. La Tradotta. In 1952, Simoni donated 40,000 volumes of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Roy A. Hunt Foundation

his writings and reviews to the Museum Library of La lnotes.net/opera/turandot.html Scala and dedicated them to his mother, Livia. The Huntington National Bank Intermediate Unit #1, Pennsylvania Giuseppe Adami (February 4, 1878 – October 12, 1946) Department of Education was an Italian playwright, librettist, and journalist best The Christian A. Johnson Endeavor known for his collaborations with Puccini on , Foundation , and Turandot . Adami was born in and Kerr Engineered Sales Levin Furniture studied law in Padua. He worked as a theater critic for McCune Foundation the Arena di Verona and later became a playwright and McKinney Charitable Foundation film director. In 1911, Adami met the publisher Giulio through The PNC Charitable Ricordi, who suggested his partnership with Puccini. Trust Grant Review Committee Adami later worked as a music critic for La sera in Milan OPERA America: The Opera Fund and for La comoedia , and as a publicist for Ricordi. Mr. and Mrs. Willie M. Owens Adami’s books include a 1928 edition of Puccini’s letters, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts a 1935 biography of Puccini, and his memoirs of Ricordi, Sarris Candies e i suoi musicisti . www.classica www.roh.org.uk/people/giuseppe-adami UPMC & UPMC Health Plan Vincent Lighting Systems The Hilda M. Willis Foundation The Riddles of Turandot

1 Straniero, ascolta! For more information on What is born each night and dies each dawn? Pittsburgh Opera's education programs, please contact: The answer is "Hope." Marilyn Michalka Egan, Ph.D. 2 Guizza al pari di fiamma Director of Education What flickers red and warm like a flame, but is not fire? [email protected] 412-281-0912 ext 242 The answer is "Blood." Pittsburgh Opera 3 Gelo che ti da foco 2425 Liberty Avenue What is like ice, but burns like fire? Pittsburgh, PA 15222 The answer is "Turandot!" pittsburghopera.org