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A Princess Re-born
The Chinese version of Turandot features a splendid "Forbidden City".
Giacomo Puccini was suffering from throat cancer as he tried to complete his last masterpiece, Turandot, in 1924. The composition of a final duet between Calaf and Turandot remained pending when he died after surgery in Brussels. Puccini's colleague, Franco Alfano, completed the duet as well as a
finale, using Puccini's notes and sketches. This full-length version is the one that has been performed worldwide ever since the opera premiered in 1926, two years after Puccini's death.
In 2000, Italian composer Luciano Berio was commissioned by Casa Ricordi, the company owning the rights to Puccini's score, to elaborate a new composition and orchestration for Turandot's finale as an alternative to that of Alfano. Now, Chinese musician Hao Weiya will compose yet another - the
third - version of the opera's ending.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Puccini's birth, the newly-open China's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA, also known as National Grand Theater) and Ricordi have commissioned Hao to write the first "Chinese edition" of Turandot which will premiere at the NCPA on March 21 through
26.
"Opera is universally considered the most complete and varied form of theater as it involves music, singing, acting and often dancing set in a scenic context," says Chen Zuohuang, music director of NCPA.
"We want to produce one opera ourselves in the first season of the new theater. Puccini's Turandot tells the story of a Chinese princess and uses the tune of the Chinese folk song Jasmine. It is, naturally, a good choice for us. We would like to have a Chinese composer to create a real 'Chinese
ending'," says Chen.
"There have been hundreds of productions of Turandot since it premiered in 1926, but in most cases, Chinese history and culture have not been well represented. Our production will feature the Rome-based Chinese conductor Lu Jia, who is an expert both in Italian opera and Chinese culture. It will
also have a Chinese director and a cast of Chinese singers."
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