INKPOT#61 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: PUCCINI Turandot.

Nilsson/Tebaldi/Tozzi/Bjoerling/Rome Opera/Leinsdorf (RCA Living Stereo)

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Giacomo
Puccini
Turandot

Princess Turandot
Birgit Nilsson
soprano

Calaf
Jussi Bjorling tenor

Liù
Renata Tebaldi,
soprano

RCA Living Stereo Timur Giorgio

(BMG Classics) 09026-626872 Tozzi tenor
2 discs [114:29] mid-price
Full Libretto in English and Italian. Rome Opera
Orchestra and
Chorus
conducted by Erich
Leinsdorf

by Ng Yeuk Fan

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INKPOT#61 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: PUCCINI Turandot. Nilsson/Tebaldi/Tozzi/Bjoerling/Rome Opera/Leinsdorf (RCA Living Stereo)

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a very good
friend of
mine was
invited to
watch the
production
of Turandot More Inkpot!
at the Issue 121
Forbidden City. The production was star- Issue 122
studded, directed by famed movie director Issue 123
of Raise the Red Lantern, Zhang Yimou. Issue 124
Tickets cost between US$150 and US$1500.
Set to the colossal tapestry of the ancient
palace, it was perhaps the most exciting Inktroductions!
operatic event of the year - even the Carmina Burana
decade. You can imagine my exasperation Handel's Messiah
when my friend declined - on the grounds Vivaldi's The Four Seasons
that he had to work. Sibelius - Kullervo
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Nevertheless, this review, dedicated to him, Bach - Brandenburg Concertos
hopes that he will get a copy of this very
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INKPOT#61 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: PUCCINI Turandot. Nilsson/Tebaldi/Tozzi/Bjoerling/Rome Opera/Leinsdorf (RCA Living Stereo)

Liu, who is in love with the Prince, is has NO affiliations with any music
labels or music stores.
secretly caught and questioned by the
Princess. Pronouncing her love for the
Prince, she laments the paradox that should
she reveal the Prince’s name, she would
lose her love to the Princess by his death;
on the other hand, should she keep quiet,
she would lose her love to the Princess by
their marriage. Caught in this difficult
dilemma and tortured by the Princess’ men,
she commits suicide to the surprise of the
Princess, after expressing that her strength
comes from Love.

Prince Calaf reproaches Turandot for her

cruelty and then despite her horrified
protests, he tears away her veil and kisses
her forcibly. Shaken by the events and her
resolution dissolving under the power of
Calaf’s confidence, she admits that she had
both loved and feared him since she first
saw him. As dawn breaks, Prince Calaf
reveals his name to the Princess and thus
puts him in her power.

At dawn however, when Turandot and Calaf

appears before the Emperor, she declares
that the name of the stranger is Love.

Puccini did not

complete this
opera. It is said
that at its first
performance on
April 25, 1926
(after the composer
had been dead for
almost a year and a
half), Toscanini,
who conducted, laid
down the baton
after the death of
Liu in the third act
and said: "The
opera ends here, because at this point the
Maestro died." On succeeding evenings
however, he conducted the entire opera as
we now know it, completed by Franco
Alfano based on sketches made by the
composer.

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INKPOT#61 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: PUCCINI Turandot. Nilsson/Tebaldi/Tozzi/Bjoerling/Rome Opera/Leinsdorf (RCA Living Stereo)

Interesting details that the sharp listener

might pick out include the famous Chinese
folk tune - "What a Beautiful Jasmine
Flower" which Puccini merrily copied from
the earliest imports of a few Chinese LPs he
had chanced upon. It is said that a friend
had arranged to have them delivered to his
home as he had increasingly towards the
end of his life become more interested in
oriental themes and tunes from the Far
East.

Critics believe that Turndot and Liu should

ideally be lyrical and dramatic. Here in this
chosen recording of Turandot, I am tempted
to express that this ideal is achieved here in
the balance of power between the usually
dramatic Nilsson and the lyrical Tebaldi.

In her delivery,
Nilsson (right; of
Wagner’s Ring's
Brunnhilde fame)
does not lack the
required lyrical tone
and in her thick
dramatism, enhances
the overall
effectiveness of her
already golden tone.
She has no restraints soaring above the
staves in her gruelling arias "In questa
Reggia" and "Straniero, ascolta" In the
latter aria , even Dame Joan Sutherland
(Decca 414 274-2) is heard struggling to
maintain her famed tone (a very rare thing
indeed) at the highest of tessituras. Nilsson
shows us what a true helden-soprano can
do when borrowed over to ‘taxing’ Puccini
heroines - and the effect is more than
compelling; listen to ‘Figlio del Cielo!’.

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INKPOT#61 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: PUCCINI Turandot. Nilsson/Tebaldi/Tozzi/Bjoerling/Rome Opera/Leinsdorf (RCA Living Stereo)

Tebaldi (left) on the

other hand does not
become overly
sentimental and in
her struggle of love-
lost and imminent
death, sings with
plenty of noble
dignity. Her testing
aria "Tu che di gel sei
cinta" may lack the
certain dramatic poise
of Callas or the floated pianissimi of Caballe
made famous in "Signore, ascolta!" but
Tebaldi's account remains one of the
versions capable of withstanding the
refiner’s fire - full of blue-veined nobility
and her tone sufficiently thick to carry the
required dramatic weight. Tebaldi without
any question, was the prima donna assoluta
of lyrical soprano roles.

Swedish tenor Jussi

Bjoerling (right), now
almost unheard of in
the generation who
has grown up with
TVs and Pavarotti, is
my choice of Calaf.
Those accustomed to
the dramatic version
of "Nessun dorma"
which has made
Pavarotti famous
should listen to
Bjoerling’s more
correct placement of
this aria. In terms of sound and dramatic
quality, Bjoerling does not overdo on both
accounts - unlike Pavarotti, who has taken
his signature song/role out of context -
more fit for the World Cup than Turandot.
Throughout, known for his beautiful sweet
tenor voice, Bjoerling displays a warm
heroic sound, secure in all registers, even
and solid minus the harsh brightness of our
other famed tenor while imbued with plenty
of style and subtle nuance. No heroism
should be lacking here, no need to
overstate it either. Bjoerling is heard here in

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INKPOT#61 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: PUCCINI Turandot. Nilsson/Tebaldi/Tozzi/Bjoerling/Rome Opera/Leinsdorf (RCA Living Stereo)

his prime.

The playing of the Rome Opera Orchestra

under Leinsdorf sounds thin and
understated. Understandably, the 1960s
recording did not have the advantage of
digital treatment. However, accompanying
the glorious sound of the singers, all
captured without any loss, Leinsdorf
conjures a very refined sound from the
string section, shimmering with excitment
when required and somehow aptly bright,
befitting the oriental theme, the oriental
melodies and the subject matter. The brass
is employed to great effect with superb
control. Otherwise, small problems in
ensemble-playing may be detected here
and there; however, they do not mar my
overall enjoyment of the performances. The
chorus is effective in their interplay with
Ping, Pong and Pang; the three ministers of
Turandot.

The famed Living Stereo sound and the

merits of this recording - from the
legendary Nilsson, the remarkable Leinsdorf
and the understated Tebaldi and Bjoerling -
all point to a sure buy at mid-price.

Ng Yeuk Fan wishes someone would ask him

to a date at the opera.

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