Puccini - Turandot at the Forbidden City of Beijing / Mehta, Casolla, Larin, Frittoli, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Rating:
Summary: A majestic rendition of the great masterpiece
Review: This opera is one of the great masterpieces by Puccini. I am certain that no greater setting could have been used for this opera, and here we have it on video. I am a bit of an Opera "junkie" and I find this to be a wonderous performance and recording of the opera.

Rating:
Summary: An Event
Review: This production is not an Arena di Verona type outdoor performance translocated to Beijing. It is a grandiose event on a gigantic scale of the kind Mehta specializes in. As far as the staging is concerned this is a Turandot unlike any other. The location required and inspired a different and impressive approach by the director Zhang Yimou: from the inclusion of the Beijing Dance Academy to the unusual location of the choir. This approach seems surprisingly appropriate, partly because all the action in the drama takes place outdoors. Mehta doesn't need my endorsement in Puccini. The singers are good to wonderful, depending on one's expectations, but this doesn't matter because the issue here is THE EVENT. This is the only opera DVD I have that takes advantage of many of the possibilities in this medium. The list of the technical features is too long. You can choose different camera angles, 6 subtitle languages, the entire audio track and more. The picture quality is very well defined and the audio has an unusual quality and balance that replicate the gigantic outdoor scale.

Rating:
Summary: My joy with Turandot
Review: This version of Turandot in the Forbidden City is absolutely marvelous. The scenery, colours, singing, dancing is stupendous. Opera from now on can only be heard and seen on DVDs and Turandot in this setting creates an awesome experience.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful sets, poor acting.
Review: Though this may not be the best recording of Turandot ever released, it is arguably the best DVD of a live performance to date. The crew lensed the performance with careful attention to dramatic detail -- we are taken from the grand sweep of authentic Chinese spectacle to almost claustrophobic close-ups of soloists, then back again, all timed with excrutiating precision to the soundtrack. The widescreen presentation captures much of the grandeur of the original performance as I remember it (one of the few bonuses of my previous career was an ability to travel to events such as this) and the sound quality is superb. Sergej Larin's Calaf is competently respectable and Barbara Frittoli stands among the great Pings on record. The PCM Audio track is superb, though the enthusiast should be aware that it lacks some of the clarity of the audio CD on some of the larger numbers. Although conductor Mehta's sometimes heavy hand is apparent in the pomp of the production, it is in the backstage photos (over 100) and the "Making of" vignette that we see his disarming charm work to bring together not only the cast and crew, but the many Chinese officials attached to the project. This DVD is a genuine pleasure for any fan of live opera, and for the enthusiast, it beautifully records a unique moment in opera history when Italian composer Puccini's famed Turandot "came home" to China. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author "Race Against Evil."

Rating:
Summary: Piece of Opera History
Review: Though this may not be the best recording of Turandot ever released, it is arguably the best DVD of a live performance to date. The crew lensed the performance with careful attention to dramatic detail -- we are taken from the grand sweep of authentic Chinese spectacle to almost claustrophobic close-ups of soloists, then back again, all timed with excrutiating precision to the soundtrack. The widescreen presentation captures much of the grandeur of the original performance as I remember it (one of the few bonuses of my previous career was an ability to travel to events such as this) and the sound quality is superb. Sergej Larin's Calaf is competently respectable and Barbara Frittoli stands among the great Pings on record. The PCM Audio track is superb, though the enthusiast should be aware that it lacks some of the clarity of the audio CD on some of the larger numbers. Although conductor Mehta's sometimes heavy hand is apparent in the pomp of the production, it is in the backstage photos (over 100) and the "Making of" vignette that we see his disarming charm work to bring together not only the cast and crew, but the many Chinese officials attached to the project. This DVD is a genuine pleasure for any fan of live opera, and for the enthusiast, it beautifully records a unique moment in opera history when Italian composer Puccini's famed Turandot "came home" to China. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author "Race Against Evil."

Rating:
Summary: Turandot at the Forbidden City
Review: Turandot is an excellent opera and this production does it justice. The spectacle of it all, and the occasion (on the original site!!!) combine to make it near-to-perfect.
The only things that keep it from that beloved fifth star:
Larin's acting leaves a good deal to be desired.
Casolla's singing is not bad, but is much less than ideal.
Mehta's choices in conducting, especially his tempos, are exaggerated and inaccurate.
But aside from that, Larin's singing is heavenly, and Fritolli's voice and her acting are superb. Yimou's stage direction is the perfect combination of Chinoiserie and operatic refinement, and is visually stunning.

Rating:
Summary: A waste of scenarios...
Review: When you perform Turandot at Beijing you have to take advantage of everything you have. This performance looks more like a concert... The choir and the actors are always standing in the same place, as if it were a puppet performance... The voices are not as good as anybody can think. Just an average performance in a really wasted location...