Grand Opening: Turandot

Opera in Three Acts by Puccini

1-4/10|Saturday to Tuesday|20:00     Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium     Tickets: MOP 800, 600, 500, 350

Turandot, a beautiful Chinese princess, is looking for a prince to be her husband using three riddles. Only the one who answers the riddles correctly can marry her, whereas the ones who fail will die. Calaf, the prince of Tartary, falls in love with the princess at first sight, so he decides to take the risk. In one single night, blood, love and sacrifice are interlaced in this powerful classical work.

Turandot was written by the brilliant Italian composer of opera, Giacomo Puccini. This opera extended his lifelong beloved theme of love and hate, and features fascinating and popular arias such as the renowned aria Nessun Dorma. The opera fully manifests the musical fantasy of a Western composer towards Chinese culture, resulting in Chinese folk melodies like Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) achieving fame in the international arena.

At the time of his death, Puccini had not yet composed the final part of the opera. It was actually completed by composer Franco Alfano according to Puccini’s posthumous manuscripts, and was rewritten by Luciano Berio in 2002. Alfano’s version will be performed in this production to bring back the classic. The tension and aesthetics of this masterpiece will be enhanced through the collaboration of Giancarlo del Monaco, the internationally famous Italian stage director, together with renowned set and costume designer William Orlandi.

Conductor: Lü Jia
Director: Giancarlo del Monaco
Set and Costume Design: William Orlandi

National Chorus of Korea
Macao Youth Choir
Macao Orchestra
Production: Macao International Music Festival

Characters and Cast    

Turandot
Dragana Radakovic (1, 3/10) and
Xiu-Ying Li (2, 4/10), Sopranos

Calaf (Timur’s son)
Jorge de Leon (1/10),
Warren Mok (2/10) and
Rudy Park (3, 4/10), Tenors

Liu (Maid servant) 
Lana Kos (1, 3, 4/10) and
Valeria Sepe (2/10), Sopranos

Timur (The deposed King of Tartary)    
Igor Durlovski, Bass

Ping (Lord Chancellor)  
Marcello Lippi, Baritone

Pang (Majordomo) 
Giorgio Trucco, Tenor

Pong (Head Chef of the Imperial Kitchen)   
Blagoj Nacoski, Tenor

Mandarin
Daniele Piscopo, Baritone

Emperor Altoum (Turandot’s father)     
Li Xiang, Tenor

Maids     
Sofia Janelidze and
Teresa Gargano, Sopranos

Performed in Italian, with surtitles in Chinese, Portuguese and English
Duration: approximately 3 hours, including one interval