Turandot at San Diego Opera (4 February 2011)

Many unfamiliar things happened at the San Diego Opera two Fridays ago. First off, the house was completely sold out for multiple performances of Puccini's Turandot. There wasn't an empty seat in sight up and down the Civic Theater's large auditorium! Many opera goers had never seen the work live before, yet practically all were familiar with the show's biggest hit aria, 'Nessun dorma'. You know it, too, even if you don't know or even dislike opera. It's been sung by the greats and the ungreats alike to undeath (because great tunes really never dies even when they are acoustically butchered into minced notes). Not being that big a fan of tenors, my love actually goes to the music of the supporting role of Liu... but that's another story altogether.

Then as the house light dimmed to signal the start of the performance, the SDO's impresario Ian Campbell came out from behind the curtain to command the rapidly hushed audience (undoubtedly expecting the worst since opera impresario usually only turn up before the curtain to announce a star cancellation) to take out their cell phones and blackberries in order to USE them! We were to phone or text a friend or two (or as many as our fingers can manage in a few minutes) who weren't there and do our best to tell them exactly how much they were missing out by not being present at the opera. The house being sold out, the message probably wasn't taken with much amusement by some opera lovers at the other end of the line, but that didn't stop those of us who were lucky enough to have secured the ticket to be there from gleefully comply to Mr. Campbell's instruction. Alas, shortly after the impresario's announcement the usual pre-recorded caution was played asking for all noise-making electronic devices to be turned off before Maestro Edoardo Müller enters the pit.

Set in China, the Arabian Nights-esque tale came West by way of Persia, only acquiring Chinese flavors via the innovative music of Puccini. Never mind that the character names were Persian (except for Liu and the comic trio Ping, Pang, and Pong), and the whole thing being sung in Italian, Puccini's mastery of the pentatonic scale and exotic musical imagination makes the tale practically placeless and timeless, existing perpetually in the most oriental corner your consciousness. The 'Chinese' Emperor (Joseph Frank) is feeling unroyally blue with the unmarried state of his beautiful daughter, Turandot (Lise Lindstrom), who insists on beheading any wooer who could not solve her riddles. Then along comes gallant and unknown Calaf (Carlo Ventre) whose condemnation of the princess' cruelty warps into a declaration of love the minute he espied her gorgeous face. Ignoring warnings from his father (Reinhard Hagen) and the slave girl Liu (Ermonela Jaho), he faces Turandot in a night-long courtship that is as improbable as it is musically convincing.

Puccini died before he could finish the final act of the opera, of course, though he left enough sketches and instruction on what he intended to do so it would take someone with serious musicological knowledge to detect where Puccini ended and his successor, Franco Alfano, begins. Aided by Edoardo Müller's brisk conducting, the three hours show (plus two intermissions) seemed much shorter in length. It also helped to have the beautiful, functional, and traditionally-suggestive minimalistic set and lighting design used so seamlessly and skillfully by the stage director, Lotfi Mansouri. The big chorus was efficiently moved around the stage without creating clutter or traffic jam. The principal performers were positioned so that they didn't have to move much to make big dramatic impacts... And Mr. Mansouri had a superb acting cast to work with!

To be honest, Carlo Ventre didn't look particularly striking as Calaf, and his acting could use some moderately serious oiling, but he was in superb voice and boomed up in the upper register as I had never heard him before in roles like Radames or Pinkerton. An extra special kudos to the man for refraining from milking his oats at the expense of drama, too. He could have held many of those ringing top notes a lot longer, but because he didn't overindulge it was easy for me to keep my eyes and ears on his Calaf rather than the tenor portraying him. That... is what makes a good artist in my book!

As his leading lady and the title dame of the show was Lise Lindstrom, whose strikingly regal figure was well matched by her ethereal silvery voice. It blossoms amazingly up top, where Turandot's music is the most demanding. Her royal bearing and precisely piercing (while retaining enough roundness to remain easy on the ears, mind you) tone in the first two acts chilled the spine while somehow still suggest a less chilly sub-current to her character. Then when Turandot was won over, she voice melted into a glowy lush soprano that almost made the legendary ice princess seemed human... That is a very tall order! I have many problems with this operatic character and remain convinced that she ended the show still not knowing the difference between love and lust (and named the wrong character 'Love' in the final scene). But all the same, as much as I regret being too young to have experienced Birgit Nilsson as the murderous Chinese princess, I feel very privileged to have witnessed Lise Lindstrom in this role. A spectacular performance!

Ermonela Jaho, who was last at the San Diego Opera as Maria Stuarda a few years back, put on a convincing theatrical performance as the selflessly loving Liu. She acted her heart out and won a roaring ovation from the packed audience. Vocally she sounded rather overpart for the role, however, straining to be heard whenever the chorus is singing, and overcompensating by singing too loudly (with a tremolo-y upper voice) even on exposed passages. The lightly orchestrated gentle plea of 'Signor, ascolta' turned rather lilt-lessly verismo under such condition. But good theater makes up for many musical flaws... for good reason: opera is a music-theater experience and not just a singing event alone!

The San Diego Symphony Orchestra was its usual flawless self and the San Diego Opera Chorus as reliably musically involved and sonorous. The whole show was so riveting that much of the audience didn't want to go home at the curtain.... And it was already 11PM when the thing finally came down!

Upcoming performances at the San Diego Opera:
R. Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier: Apr 3, 6, 9, 12
C. Gounod's Faust: Apr 23, 26, 29, May 1
G. Bizet's Carmen: May 14, 17, 20, 22