Page 2 - CROT_NewsletterFall2017_MOBILE_draft

PAGE 2 | FALL 2017
My Four Favorite Parts of Turandot By Daniel Kleinknecht
I. My heart races when I hear the opening chorus sing about sharpening the executioner’s blade.
The orchestra races forward, then slows, then speeds up again. This is one of the most hair- raising moments in all opera chorus music. The percussion pounds like the heart of someone being led to his execution. The chorus and full orchestra are at their fullest.
II. The nale of Act I begins when Calaf (the Unknown Prince) sings “Non piangere piu,” telling Liù to cry no more. It is one of the best- constructed nales since Mozart’s Figaro.
Puccini does what Mozart did in Figaro
by building to a climax by layering more
and more voices and parts. In Turandot,
everyone on stage nally joins the full
orchestra. The act ends as the Unknown
Prince strikes the gong three times. Many
textual ideas crowd the stage: Timur,
Ping, Pang, and Pong try to dissuade the Unknown Prince from pursuing Turandot
while the Prince sings of Turandot as his
ultimate destiny. The melody itself wanders
in a small range, then reaches higher and climaxes; then it repeats, each time more insistent and more richly orchestrated.
III. The roles of Ping, Pang, and Pong (who act as the commedia dell’arte characters) bring comic relief. They are given conversational music that sometimes goes beyond mere dialogue music to the classic Puccini melody. One of these moments is when they sing in Act II, “Addio amore...” It’s just one of the gifts of Puccini—writing a melody that gets stuck in your head. Because there are so many of these melodic gems in Turandot, you can’t keep track of them, but this melody is one that speaks to my heart.
IV. Turandot’s rst aria “In questa reggia” is thrilling. Puccini creates dramatic arch by starting with the soprano melody high, then descending, then high and descending again. A mournful shuddering ostinato accompanies the Princess
as she describes the death of her ancestress. The music begins in a sad minor mode, then triumphs at the end. Then Calaf joins in the last phrase and together they hold high Cs in octaves; they’re singing at full pelt. It’s loud and high singing that few singers are capable of doing successfully. Puccini asks these singers to go beyond what most singers can accomplish.
Scenic and projection renderings of the Turandot set. Credits: Rob Sunderman, Set Design; Kristen Geisler, Projection Design.
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