Turandot

"My highest marks are reserved for the beautiful playing in every department of the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Gergiev ... Disappointing performances from the two principals in an eccentric modern production that is only partially successful mainly due to Gallardo-Domass nicely expressive Liù and the beautiful playing of the Vienna Philharmonic under Gergiev".

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"Italian tenor Riccardo Massi, a Puccini specialist who knows the role well, excels as Prince Calaf ... Under the direction of Paolo Carignani the playing of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra was excellent from start to finish together with impressive contributions from the choruses ... Directed expertly by Marco Arturo Marelli this magnificent 2015 Bregenz Festival production of Turandot entertained me royally from start to finish".

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"En flot opsætning får man med en live-optagelse fra Wiens Statsopera 1983. Billederne og dragterne er prægtige med masser af eksotisk atmosfære i Harold Princes iscenesættelse. Den skulle imponere, og det gjorde den. Eva Marton har sunget Turandot både på The Met og i San Francisco, men hun er bedst her, hvor hendes store sopran klinger frit. José Carreras er en dejligt lyrisk Calaf, som dog ikke mangler den nødvendige kraft ... Lorin Maazel dirigerer præcist og skarpt og havde dengang sin store andel i succesen".

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"Keine nette Frau ist die Turandot der Nina Stemme: gleisnerisch, auf Abstand bedacht, um ihre Verwundbarkeit zu überdecken ... Erstmals wurde in Italien der neue Berio-Schluss gegeben ... Das ist ebenso sublim ausmusiziert, wie es von Stemme, Aleksandr Antonenko und Maria Agresta idiomatisch gesungen wird".

"Editor's choice: The set and costumes (Raimund Bauer and Andrea Schmidt-Futterer) are a feast for the eye ... [Stemme] delivers 'In questa reggia' with burnished tone, culminating in a gleaming top C ... Tsymbalyuk is touching in Timur's lament for Liù, and the masks are well characterised ... A firm recommendation for this eminently watchable offering from the theatre of the opera's premiere".

"For all its grandeur, it's a finely poised staging ... Fortunately, the performance is worthy too, although not consistently first-rate ... Henrik Nánási conducts with efficiency and power ... Well worth your consideration".

"Long one of my favourite productions of anything ... Serban struck a healthy blow against the ultra-ornate Zeffirellian approach with a look that's often as dark as the heart of the opera's Chinese fairy-tale princes ... But the most immediate problem in this dvd is the production's depth of field ... Often the chorus disappears into stage murk ... There's still plenty to look at ... Though led with great theatrical authority by conductor Henrik Nánási, the cast seems untried".

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "Drawing on his intimate knowledge of traditional Chinese theatre and spectacle, Chen and his designers, Liu King and Chen Tong Xun, give us a Turandot in extravagant colours and choreography, true to the spirit of fable and legend - Maria Guleghina must surely not be the Turandot of our time. The role seems to hold no terrors for her... Zubin Mehta's...direction of the Valenciana Orchestra brims with drama and affection".

"Paradox rules in Chen Kaige's production of Turandot ... looks more Aladdin's Old Peking than a Manchu Imperial capital ... Maria Guleghina is ample, and ample voiced ... Marco Berti is a big beefy Calaf. But the best of all is Alexi Voulgaridou's smoky toned Liu - for once you can hear the pain in both her arias".

Vurdering (performance): 4/5.

Vurdering (picture & sound): 3/5.

"The cast certainly concedes little to the past ... The chorus is in fine form, and the action unusually taut for a staging this old. What really makes this production is the vividness with which it's communicated, both in the exceptional high-definition picture and spacious sound".

Vurdering (performance): 5/5.

Vurdering (picture & sound): 4/5.

"A fantasy Peking is transported to Bregenz Festival's lakeside setting ... Terracotta Warriors, paper lanterns, Chinese dragons and a 72-metre curved Great Wall of China all contribute to a real sense of spectacle ... Guanqun Yu's schoolgirl Liu, sporting beret and pigtails, is the pick of the cast. She delivers a beautifully affecting, 'Tu che di gel sei cinta' ... Riccardo Massi sings attractively as Calaf, with a very creditable 'Nessun dorma' ... An enjoyable staging".

"This night in Old Peking might be better spent ... The stage production is lavish, in care as well as expenditure ... Carreras, as Calaf, looks handsome and sound magnificent, but can hardly be said to act ... Maazel's speeds are apt to drag but there is some fine playing by the Vienna orchestra".

"The whole event suffers from giganticism ... so much of it seems unnecessarily busy and showy ... The stars of the evening are conductor and second soprano. Marina Poplavskaya ... acts convincingly, looks wonderful and sings with great warmth and sure technique".