Turandot
an opera by Giacomo Puccini based on Turandot (1762) by Carlo Gozzi.
Coproduction of State Opera Stara Zagora and State Puppet Theatre Stara Zagora
Libretto: Giuseppe Adami, Renato Simoni
Directors: Ognyan Draganov, Darin Petkov
Stage design and costumes: Каталин Йонеску-Арборе, Vasil Rokomanov, Silva Bachvarova
Conducting: Vladimir Boshnakov
Artistic light: Vasko Lisichkov /Macedonia/
Plastics: Hse Fu-Chen /Taiwan/
Cast: Turandot – Dragana Radakovich /Serbia/, Altoum – Simeon Simeonov, Timur – Yulian Konstantinov, Calaf – Dario di Vietri /Italy/, Liù – Tsvetelina Vasileva, Ping – Alexander Krunev, Pang – Georgi Dinev, Pong – Ivaylo Yovchev, Princesses - Nely Necheva, Hristiyana Hristova
Summary
The opera's version of the story is set in China and involves Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold Princess Turandot. To obtain permission to marry her, a suitor has to solve three riddles; any wrong answer results in death. Calaf passes the test, but Turandot still refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to learn his name before dawn the next day, then at daybreak he will die. In the original story by Nizami, the princess sets four conditions. The first is "a good name and good deeds", and then the three challenges.
The opera was unfinished at the time of Puccini's death in 1924, and was completed by Franco Alfano in 1926. The first performance was held at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 25 April 1926 and conducted by Arturo Toscanini.
