Florence, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino – LXXXVI Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival
“TURANDOT”
Lyrical drama in three acts, with a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, from the theatrical fairy tale of the same name by Carlo Gozzi
Music by Giacomo Puccini
Princess Turandot OLGA MASLOVA
Emperor Altoum CARLO BOSI
Timur SIMON LIM
The unknown prince SEOKJONG BAEK
Liu VALERIA SEPE
Ping LODOVICO FILIPPO RAVIZZA
Pang LORENZO MARTELLI
Pong ORONZO D’URSO
A mandarin QIANMING DOU
The Prince of Persia DAVIDE CIARROCCHI
First handmaid THALIDA MARINA FOGARASI
Second handmaid ANASTASSIYA KOZHUKHAROVA
New BallettO di ToscanA
Orchestra and choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Children’s choir of the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Director Zubin Mehta
Choir master Lorenzo Fratini
Master of the children’s choir Sara Matteucci
Direction Zhang Yimou (taken from Stefania Grazioli)
Scenes and costumes Gao Guangjian, Zeng Li, Huang Haiwei, Wang Yin
Lights Valerio Tiberi
Choreography Chen Weiya (taken from Damiana Pizzuti)
Special stage movements for figurants Elena Barsotti
Installation of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Florence, April 24 2024
Sold out for weeks, the epic “Turandot” by Zhang Yimou (taken from Stefania Grazioli) pays homage to the 86th May Festival. Came to light in 1997 for the 60th Festival, its peculiarity has ensured its long life, with 3 revivals in Florence (the last, in 2012, in semi-scenic form) and 3 tour in the East (one in Beijing and two in Tokyo). The imperishable staging not only shows off considerable costumes and magnificent scenes, created with quality materials by the quartet Gao Guangjian, Zeng Li, Huang Haiwei, Wang Yin, but boasts the director’s indigenous vision, imbued with the mysterious symbolism of Chinese opera. Mysterious, at least, for the Western public, busy studying its meaning. The recurring fans, for example, seem to refer to dignity, to ritual sacrifice, culminating in the large white fan that ascends after Liù’s sacrifice, a macroscopic sign of mourning. The very long golden cloth that unfolds announcing the emperor is impressive, on which one imagines stories of China are written, similar to the stained glass walls of our cathedrals. The studied combination of poses and colors of the characters then contributes to the overall opulence of the picture, where no less significant is the crude application of the law recalled by the mandarin and
materialized in monumental calligraphic books. In the background, the people of Beijing carry with them the rooftops of the Forbidden City, to which the chorus of Lorenzo Fratini he joins in voicing all his precariousness. In addition to the dynamic intervention of the white voices of Sara Matteuccithe performance is enriched by the contribution of the Nuovo BallettO di ToscanA, with choreography by Chen Weiya (taken from Damiana Pizzuti) and the movements of the special figures of Elena Barsotti. Of particular note, in this regard, are the bewitching movements of the dancers who emulate the charm of the princess. As for the passage of time, “Turandot” is a work of light and frost, day and night, whose dichotomous atmospheres are well captured 
from the lights of Valerio Tiberi, consistent in framing the protagonist within the cold light of a moon of death. Finally, applause goes to Liù’s surrender of suicide, which is not extinguished by tearing a dagger from a soldier’s belt, but by removing a sharp clip from Turandot’s hair, to underline how her existence is irreconcilable with that of the princess. But this “Turandot” is above all the “Turandot” of Zubin Mehta, whose synergistic interaction with the Maggio ensemble reawakens the ancient beginnings of an opera that characterized his youth and which is once again performed with the traditional Alfano finale. The director captures the exotic scents of the drama well, masterfully embodying Puccini’s refined timbral solutions, both in their softest relaxing parentheses and on the most disruptive themes, giving particular importance to the finishing of the idiophones. TO 
crowning of the majestic ensemble scenes, where there is no shortage of moments of greater prevarication, his wand seals locks of great emotional charge, transients from floor to authentic very strong. In the title role, Olga Maslova she is a promising Turandot, comfortable with the impervious tessitura except for a couple of tighter high notes in the full orchestra reinforcements. With affection, the Ukrainian singer affirms her supremacy by resisting the insistent forceful grips, at the same time allowing vocal inflections to transpire that insinuate the doubt of a Turandot who is sometimes vulnerable and perhaps the victim of her own oath, and then easily overcomes the fearsome final duet and gives herself to the joys of love. Calaf is more discontinuous and generic Seok Jong Baek, not devoid of dramaturgical inventiveness, but too often affected by diction difficulties and uneven emission in the phonetics of vowels. Thus, the tenor encounters intubated or nasal sounds, within a rather oscillating vibrato, only here and there gaining the 
typical blade that characterizes the high notes of the unknown prince. Some slight uncertainty in the engagement of the high notes floor also for Valeria Sepe, which conveys a heartfelt Liù, whose well-marked vocality turns supplely towards the legates and the harmonious singing line of the young slave. Expressive and scenically credible, Sepe demonstrates great dynamic sensitivity, warming hearts with sudden increases in intensity in the high notes, of which the sophisticated conclusion in growing up and consequent decreasing of “Lord, listen!” it is the supreme example. Among the other roles, we highlight the convincing contribution of Simon Lim in the guise of the old Tartar king and the mostly incisive Altoum of Carlo Bosi. A certain weakness in the serious ones was shared, however, by Qianming Dou (convinced mandarin) and the cheerful company composed of Oronzo D’urso (Pong), Lodovico Filippo Ravizza (Ping) e Lorenzo Martelli (Pang), although the last two redeemed themselves with a more focused upper register. Corrected the interventions of the handmaids Thalida Marina Fogarasi And Anastassiya Kozhukharova and of the prince of Persia of Davide Ciarrocchi. As we wanted to demonstrate, the audience’s tribute to this performance was warm and heartfelt, maintained for several minutes with unison applause and supported by the usual stomping of the orchestral players.
