Turandot was spectacular

Saturday night Nathan and I went to see Turandot (pronouce the 't' at the end) at the Santa Fe Opera. I belong to Intermezzo, this opera group for us youngins, and so got 50% off tickets for the season. Since this opera was mostly sold out when I bought tickets, I was "forced" to buy more expensive seats which were great - we were smack in the center of the audience. And no one tall was seated in front of me.

Right before the opera started our seat neighbors showed up reeking of pot. I can just imagine - "DUDE, lets get totally stoned for the opera!"

Anyway, moving on. The set was totally technicolor - oranges, yellows, greens, fuschia, bright green and purple. The comic relief, three colorful guys named Ping, Pang, and Pong, wore huge sill hats with things that looked like long springs or ostrich feathers sticking out of their hats. They moved with their slightest movement. They wore jester like outfits and were one of the highlights of the opera.

Turandot has a simple plot - it revolves around Turandot, the haughty ice princess and eminently eligible bachelorette of China, daughter of the Emperor of China, (may he live 10000 years). Her suitors must anwer three riddles to gain her hand in marriage or, if they cannot guess the riddles, get their head chopped off. Heads on poles decorated the stage for the first act - including the feather capped hat of the prince of Persia, the latest prince to fail the challenge.

Enter Calaf, prince of exile from Tartary, who falls in love with Turandot at first sight. He succesfully guesses the riddles. Turandot freaks out, so Calaf offers her a chance - guess his name before dawn, and he will die. ANyway, it all works out - she melts with his kiss at sunrise and falls in love. In fact, she declares to the kingdom - I know his name, it is....AMMMORRRRE!" (love).

The singing was superb - especially from the slave girl Liu, who is in love with Calaf and kills herself to avoid having to reveal the prince's name. Her voice sang these high clear notes so beautifully - it would be great to hear her in a larger role - she was exceptional. THe other amazing singer was Calaf himself, whose tenor was gorgeous. In the second and thir acts he had some solos that were incredible - rich and full of emotion.

Turandot was quite capable, and was truly wonderful in the duet with Calaf at the end - their voices complimented each other remarkably well. On her own though, I wasn't as impressed - I just didn't get a feel for her character, even though her character was fairly straightforward - haughty ice princess. When she melted though, so did her voice. Perhaps she did that on purpose - to show the blossoming or such of her character.

Anyway, this was a terrific opera, and I would love to go see it again. Our two favorite characters though will not be in the future performances - well, Calaf was played by our singer just for the first two performances. Liu is sung by one singer for July, and someone else in August. IT would be interesting to see if the other singers do as wonderful a job.

I haven't even gone on about the set, the costumes - both of which were wonderfully wacky, creative, and colorful.