The Met’s Final Dress Rehearsals are one of the great pleasures at New York’s opera house, and none I’ve ever attended has disappointed. The idea is, of course, that it is a rehearsal, but it is after all referred to as “final.” So at this point, the show is ready, and despite occasional comments from those in charge that there might be interruptions and such, I don’t remember that ever happening.
Yesterday’s Final Dress Rehearsal of Puccini’s Turandot is a good case in point, and Andrew and I enjoyed it as much as anything we’ve seen in a long, long time. (Andrew admits it is, perhaps, his favorite opera.)
If you want to learn more about this very famous opera, the Met’s streaming service (The Met on Demand) offers several performances, and you can’t lose if you listen to and watch the May 6, 2022 performance (it’s available here). In fact, even if you don’t subscribe to The Met on Demand, a 7-day Free Trial is available at the site. But I’m of the opinion that if you like opera, you will want to subscribe. In a very short time, and you’ll love having such quick access to so many fine performances. (No! I don’t get a commission from the Met.)
Several quick video excerpts can also be found online (scroll down to see the excerpts), each with a different interview or singer. It’s all to get you in the mood for one of the Met’s great treasures, with this particular production part of the repertory for the last thirty-four years. Peter Clark, the Met’s Director of Archives, tells the story:
By 1987, it was time for a new production of Turandot that would take advantage of the greatly enhanced technical possibilities of the opera house at Lincoln Center, which had opened in 1966. The obvious choice was the Italian director Franco Zeffirelli whose elaborately detailed, colorfully realistic productions of repertory staples—as well as of the world premiere of Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, which inaugurated the new opera house—had already made him the idol of the opera-going public. Turandot, the ultimate operatic spectacle, was right up his alley. “A big, eye catching, densely-packed, opulent new production staged by the master of monumentality, Franco Zeffirelli,” declared the New York Post critic. While many reviewers took a priggish attitude about excessive display, the sheer theatricality of Zeffirelli’s spectacle created a sensation with audiences. Turandot became the show to see in New York, a hit on the scale of a Broadway smash, and tickets were practically unobtainable.
Obviously the original production, a gift of Mrs. Donald D. Harrington, was a major success, and now, after all these years, the same production has been been made even better. This revival is a gift of G. Graham Berwind III and The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, with, additionally, Mr. Berwind sponsoring the refurbishment of the Turandot sets. With the refurbished sets and new costumes, based on original designs by Anna Anne and Dada Saligeri for La Scala, Milan, we’re all made to feel as if we’re watching a whole new production of this spectacular opera.
And the music! What can one say about this beautiful score and the magnificent singing we heard yesterday? And it all comes together—beginning Wednesday February 28—over the next eight weeks in fourteen performances. There will be three different casts of principal singers, all working along with the Met’s almost embarrassingly talented chorus and orchestra. It’s a musical experience not to be missed.
Don’t worry about the opera’s place in the musical realm. If you’re thinking about the story, read it at the Met’s synopsis to learn what happens. And for a little more background, here’s what was on the handout given to those of us attending yesterday’s Final Dress Rehearsal:
Puccini’s final opera is a huge and melodious fairy tale set in a China of legend. Drawing upon the innovative techniques employed by a number of composers in the early decades of the 20th century, the opera’s sprawling orchestration calls for a wide variety of instruments, including alto saxophones, celesta, bass xylophone, harps muffled with pieces of paper, and an organ. Yet for all this, Turandot is recognizably Puccini, bursting with the instantly appealing melodies that are the core of his universal popularity. The chorus plays a major role in each act, and yet the title character’s commanding Act II aria, “In questa reggia,” and her succeeding confrontation with Calàf create an effect of Wagnerian proportions while still remaining in a firmly Italian style. The opera also contains moments of sheer melodic beauty in Puccini’s most lyrical vein, notably Liù’s plaintive “Signore, ascot” and the tenor’s unforgettable hymn of triumph, “Nessun dorma.”
Give yourself a treat this spring and enjoy Turandot at the Met. You might even see me there.