Completing Turandot Pt. 3 - Calaf and Nessun Dorma

"Nessun Dorma" is one of the most famous arias in all of opera, but if you think about it, it doesn't exactly portray its singer, Calàf, in the best light. He's solved Turandot's riddles, and is ready to take her as his unwilling bride--and now, he's gloating about it.

So how do we make him transform from an arrogant young man, into a mature adult that even Turandot can fall in love with? By recasting his signature aria in a new light. (Performed here by Yonghoon Lee as Calaf, with Ewa Plonka as Turandot watching.)

Washington National Opera's production of 'Turandot', with the new ending by Christopher Tin and Susan Soon He Stanton, opens at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on May 11, 2024. Directed by Francesca Zambello and starring Ewa Plonka/Marjorie Owens (Turandot) and Yonghoon Lee/Jonathan Burton (Calaf), conducted by Speranza Scappucci.

Turandot was Giacomo Puccini's final opera, but he died before he could finish it, leaving scattered sketches. On the 100th-anniversary of his death, this newly commissioned ending seeks to resolve one of the biggest plot dilemmas in the opera canon: how to justify the love between the opera's two adversaries: the steely Princess Turandot, and the heroic Prince Calaf.

----- CONNECT WITH CHRISTOPHER -----


Christopher can be found on:

[mariannatheron]

Beautiful Christopher, letting go of the ego, making him vulnerable. You are rewriting history. You show a more wholesome way of being human Man. Thank you!!

[molliethorn]

I haven’t followed opera before. I have really appreciated following your process and then experiencing the opera with your new ending. Thanks for sharing your creative process, Chris.

[_julz_]

Never knew what Nessun Dorma was about, but now i'm intrigued

[txikivasco]

Can't wait to hear the result. Your music always touches parts of my soul that I usually forget are there, and Turandot (along with Tosca) is one of my favorite operas, so, it can only be awesome.

[dcossi]

Be Interesting to Hear the new ending and also if The Mandarins Names will as easily roll off the tongue as Ping, Pang and Pong.
Also, recently Alfano's uncut ending has gained Favour, . Puccini never wanted Alfano in the first place, He suggested Riccardo Zandonai, Though apparently The Puccini Family wanted a lesser name to complete it.

[Rodinov_Claw]

Re-prising Nessun Dorma in this manner is a good artistic choice. I think, if there was someone who could have helped Puccini "break-thru" the last Act back in those days, he may have finished the opera. A lot of people forget that Turandot was left unfinished for a long time, and he wasn't even interested to go back to that opera, because he couldn't reconcile the story. Also, as a lot of his other operas showcases strong female persona, by killing off Liu, in my opinion, it also killed his interest to finish the opera.

It is always tricky trying to complete the work of other composers, especially if you are not living during his time, and experiencing the culture of those yesteryears, but updating it to suit a more modern audience without going off-tangent like some other productions, and remain grounded is probably the best way to pay homage to a great composer, who have given so much melodious arias to the world.

All I would say is, good job, and I look forward to your next album.

[Sparkypark]

Italia 1990. Gazza’s tears. Jumpers for goal posts, isn’t it? Hmm.

[vkcca]

Good try but you have completely missed the point of Puccini's Turandot's ending.. He struggled for a year with the ending after the last aria by Liu. He did know how to finish it and he died. You have to solve that problem for Puccini first. Without that solution you are just experimenting, playing around. It has recently dawned on me that the solution is actually very simple.

[ioioi_prx]

Wait what the fuck toxic masculinity?
I thought Turandot is about a guy that answered all the riddles and barely escaped his supposed execution

[marvelux]

Why should you do something like this?

[crisacquario]

I beg your pardon? Calaf's toxic masculinity? After passing the three (deadly) riddles and yet Turandot withdraws her word? And he's the j*rk? I'm not saying he is the paragon of virtue, but this view seems a bit exaggerated.... Not least because Turandot also has her considerable problems. But in the end they both redeem themselves... at least in some way. The initial problem was the timing of the change. Turandot's ending is a bit rushed, like the eighth season of GoT. Apart from that, musically speaking, I love Alfano's ending, especially the original extended version. I haven't heard yours yet, and honestly I'm a little.... Um... conflicted. Otherwise I'm a big fan of your work ✌🏼

[inakiserranofigueroa]

The ending no one needed... First of all, calling Nessun dorma a moment of toxic masculinity is simply pathetic. Calaf is deeply in love with Turandot, which is why he is willing to risk his life to have her, BUT, even though he correctly answered to her three riddles he doesn't want her to marry him forcefully, so he risks his life AGAIN to prove her his LOVE. As sunrise approaches he pictures his dream of love finally coming true, when he will win, which is where he sings Nessun dorma. How can anyone say this is toxic masculinity? Clearly just trying to get your crappy leftist discourse forward to have someone paying attention to you. Simply sad.

[danielga]

This work has nothing to do with human love, but with Divine love, that which the individual soul has with the Spirit, which lies within each human heart. Puccini hid it in this way so that only he who has eyes to see and ears to hear could see and hear it. For the common man these secrets are hidden. The same thing happened to Western translators, writers and scholars when they misinterpreted the "Rubaiyat" of Ommar Khayyam, who was a true mystic, and not a luster as it was interpreted, you can read if you want the correct spiritual interpretation of Paramhansa Yogananda, great Hindu saint who went to the United States in the 1920s. This interpretation of Turandot of yours, despite your good intentions, is only diluting the divine power that Puccini gave it. Take me for crazy if you want, but I had to at least write these words to defend and protect his original legacy.