Review: Season's First TURANDOT Adds a Fourth Question - Is It Time to Retire Zeffirelli's Popular Production?

Nobody goes to see the Met's TURANDOT for subtlety and, from that standpoint, the audience got what it paid for at the opera's first performance of the season. That is, except, perhaps from soprano Christine Goerke in the title role, who gave a finely nuanced performance when the production didn't get in her way (and a steely one when it was called for, as when she delivered the riddles and in "In Questa Reggia").

The production has seen better days and it gave me, at least, a chance to wonder what it might look (and sound) like in other hands than Franco Zeffirelli's. Oh, I know it's scandalous to even mention jettisoning the audience-pleasing vision of Peking (sic), because the house went wild for it, as it always does. Yet, one can nonetheless dream of seeing a different take in our lifetimes.

The staging of the revival under J. Knighten Smit took a bit for it to get on its feet. The chorus (under Donald Palumbo) hasn't done something on the scale of TURANDOT for a long time and they came on like gangbusters, with staggering volume during the first act when a little more modulation would have gone a long way. Later, they were the stellar ensemble that we all love and the orchestra under Marco Armiliato gave a more distinguished version of Puccini's colorful, sophisticated score.

Tenor Yusif Eyvazov gave a full-voiced, passionate rendition of Calaf, that matched Goerke quite well. (It'll be interesting to hear him opposite his wife, Anna Netrebko, later in the season.) His answers to Turandot's riddles were handled in stentorian style that took no prisoners, but he toned things down in his more intimate moments with the princess. He delivered a fine "Nessun dorma."

Soprano Gabriella Reyes is one of the replacements for the original Liu set for this season and I found her one more example of the more-is-more that seemed the marching orders of the evening. Again, there was no subtlety in the performance--nothing touching or elegant in her two big arias, merely volume, when a more sympathetic approach was called for. Bass James Morris, though his voice is well past its prime, managed well as Calaf's father, Timur, calling on his well-honed acting skills.

The commedia dell'arte characters, the ministers with the cartoonish names of Ping, Pang and Pong, were sung by tenors Eric Ferring in his house debut (Pong) and Tony Stevenson (Pang), and baritone Hyun Yun (Ping) in the most cringeworthy portrayals I can remember. Their Act II scene in their apartments was if they had wandered in from RuPauls' Drag Race rather than lamenting Turandot's bloody reign. Granted that the libretto by Adami and Simoni didn't ask for much refinement, but neither did it demand the degree of absurdity that the production delivered.

I expect that the production will find its footing as the season proceeds and maybe there will be a few more nuances as it settles in. I just wish some of them had been there on its opening night.

For more information about tickets for TURANDOT, see the Met's website.

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