Giacomo Puccini is a famous Italian composer who created 10 operas, most of which have been on the stage of the most famous theaters in the world for more than 100 years. Among them, the opera Turandot occupies a special place, a summary of which is presented below.
Author
Giacomo Puccini was born in 1858 in the Italian city of Lucca, in a family of musicians. After the death of his father, the boy learned to play various instruments with his uncle, and becoming older, he entered the Milan Conservatory. In 1884, the premiere of the first opera of the young composer - "Willis". Then he was asked to write a score to order for the musical performance "Edgar". However, the real success came to J. Puccini after the production of the opera Manon Lesko. No less successful were also La Boheme and Tosca, which premiered in 1900. Success did not force Puccini to rest on his laurels, and after 4 years he pleased the fans with his new work “Madame Butterfly”. It caused a sensation. Suffice it to say that after the performance Puccini was called on stage 7 times. After this work, a black streak came to the composer's life: he had an accident, his wife blamed the housekeeper for her spouse, and she committed suicide. In addition, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. The operation to remove the tumor led to complications in his condition, from which he died in November 1929.
The story of the creation of the opera Turandot
Gozzi's tale attracted the attention of Puccini in 1919. According to the composer himself, the opera Turandot (for a summary of the libretto see below) was written after attending a performance at the Max Reinhardt Theater in Berlin. However, he planned to slightly change the plot of the tale. Puccini invited Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni to create the libretto, but he also actively participated in writing texts for the Aryans.
The opera Turandot, a summary of which is presented below, was created between the summer of 1920 and the last days of the composer's life. During this time, Puccini managed to write about 3/4 of the estimated volume of this work. However, he did not manage to write the final duet of Turandot with Prince Calaf and the last scene of the third act. They were later created by Puccini's friend Franco Alfano.
Opera "Turandot": contents of the first act
The performance begins with the fact that the mandarin announces the conditions under which everyone can marry Princess Turandot. According to the wishes of the emperor’s daughter, the applicant for her hand and heart must first answer 3 of her riddles. If he fails, they will execute him. It is also known about the first victim of a cruel girl. She became the Persian prince, whose sentence will be carried out at moonrise. The angry crowd longs to witness the execution. A crush begins, because of which an emaciated, ragged old man falls to the ground. It turns out that this is the Tatar king Timur. Recently, he was ousted from the throne, and he roams the world in the company of slave Liu. The girl is desperate, because she does not have the strength to raise her unfortunate overlord from the ground. Suddenly, the young man Kalaf came to her aid, the only son of Tsar Timur, who had long since left his native country and was incognito in Beijing.
Exit Turandot
At this time, the Persian prince appears, who should be executed. His unhappy appearance causes the crowd pity, grumble and indignation. Turandot herself comes out to pacify people. The beauty of the princess captivates Calaf, and he decides to achieve her location. Slave Liu, long in love with her prince, tries to prevent trouble and tells him about her love. Timur also joins her. He performed the aria from the opera Turandot Ah, per ultima volta. In it, the old man dissuade his son from matchmaking to a cruel princess. However, the Tatar prince is adamant and opens his heart to everyone. Sounds Calaf's aria from the opera Turandot (Non piangere, Liu), it is one of the main ones. At its completion, the young man strikes the gong, notifying everyone of his willingness to solve the mysteries of the Chinese princess.
Libretto of the opera Turandot: summary of the second act (scene one)
Ministers Pong, Ping and Pang appear, who are entrusted with preparing everything necessary for holding the mystery ceremony. In the trio Ho una casa nell'Honan, they mourn the fate of the Chinese empire. According to them, the country is heading into the abyss due to Turandot. All three are indignant, as the whims of this wayward girl have turned them all into executioners. Ministers dream of leaving the damned job and heading to the provinces.
Second Act: Scene Two Content
Next, the action is transferred to the square in front of the palace. The old emperor Altoum performs an aria in which he tries to dissuade Calaf from competitions. However, the Tatar prince is determined. Turandot appears. In the aria In questa reggia, the girl tells the story of her grandmother Low-Lin, who was dishonored by the conquerors, and speaks of her hatred of all men.
Calaf asks Turandot to riddle him. The girl asks him if he can name what a wonderful ghost flies under cover of night, disappears in the morning to rise in his heart at sunset. The young man easily finds the right answer and says that this is hope. Then Turandot demands from him an answer to the question of what burns like a flame, although it is not related to fire, the last one gets colder, reminds blood in color and is similar to the dawn. The prince finds a clue again and says that it is blood. The last test remains. The princess asks: “The ice has lit your heart, but it cannot melt it. It is both light and darkness. Can make a slave wanting the will, and the king of the one who wanted slavery. What is it?".
Calaf cannot answer this question, but he is encouraged by the old emperor, people, ministers and even faithful Liu. The princess looks into his face and, smiling, asks: “Alien, what kind of ice is it that ignites the flame?” Calaf guesses what this is about and says: “I will melt your ice with the flame of my love, Turandot!”
The princess begs her father not to pass her off as a stranger. However, Calaf does not want to marry against the will of the girl. He invites the princess to guess his name. If she recognizes him before sunrise, he will voluntarily die. Otherwise, the princess will marry him.
Third act
The opera Turandot (author - Giacomo Puccini) is approaching its final stage. The action takes place at night, in the imperial garden. The heralds inform everyone about the princess’s order, according to which the name of the unknown prince must be recognized, but Calaf is sure that Turandot will belong to him, since no one can help her find out his secret.
The emperor’s ministers appear, trying to seduce the prince, offering him beautiful girls, wealth and fame. Then the townspeople surround him, begging him to open his name, because otherwise they will be threatened with death. But this does not produce results. Then the angry mob decides to kill Calaf, but he is adamant. However, the opera Turandot (for a summary of the first act, see above) does not end there.
Denouement
Guardians of the imperial palace introduced King Timur and Liu. They want to torture them to report the name of a foreign prince. To save the king from torture, the slave announces that only she knows what the boy’s name is. However, she refuses to give out the name of Calaf, and says that her love gives her strength to remain silent. She commits suicide, having previously predicted to the princess that she too will love her groom. The crowd carries away the body of a slave. Turandot and Calaf remain together. A young man kisses a girl and a flame of love is kindled in her heart. He reveals her name to her. However, the princess declares to everyone that the young man's name is Love. The final choir sounds.
Now you know who wrote the opera Turandot. You also know the summary of his libretto, and you can better appreciate this work when it is performed in the original language.