Turandot

A Turandot filtered through a modern brain, wrote Puccini, describing his plans to rework the eighteenth-century fable by Carlo Gozzi. According to Mosco Carner, Puccinis last and supreme work is an advanced score which, with an orchestration that reflects contemporaries such as Richard Strauss and Stravinsky as well as genuine Chinese rhythms and harmonies, remains true to the Italian vocal tradition. The musicologist Jrgen Maehder analyses of the ending, which Franco Alfano composed from Puccinis sketches. In addition, the great British soprano Dame Eva Turner recalls her experiences of singing the title role, of which she was a legendary interpreter. Contents: The Genesis of the Opera, Mosco Carner; The Score, Mosco Carner; Puccinis Turandot: A Fragment, Jrgen Maehder; Carlo Gozzis Turandot and Its Transformation into Puccinis Libretto, John Black; Memories of Performing Turandot, Eva Turner; Turandot: Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni; Turandot: English literal translation by William Weaver