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Turandot (Busoni)
Encyclopedia
Turandot is a 1917 opera with spoken dialogue and in two acts by Ferruccio Busoni
. Busoni prepared his own libretto, in German
, based on the play by Count Carlo Gozzi. The music for Busoni's opera is based on incidental music
, and the associated Turandot Suite
(BV 248), which Busoni had written in 1905 for a production of Gozzi's play. The opera is often performed as part of a double bill with Busoni's earlier one-act opera Arlecchino
.
's play Turandot first appeared in 1762. It was originally written to be performed in the small theatre of San Samuele in Venice, and was deliberately written in the Commedia dell'arte
style as a reaction to the more modern, realistic plays of Goldoni
and others.
Schiller made an adapted translation of Turandot which was published in 1802. Weber
wrote his Incidental music for Turandot, Op. 37, for a production of this play. It was composed in 1809 and included the earlier Overtura cinese/Chinese Overture, which he had composed on a Chinese theme in 1805. Busoni thought that between them Schiller and Weber had ruined a masterpiece of Italian literature.
BV247, which included music from an unfinished adaptation of Oehlenschlager's Aladdin.
In 1904 Busoni began sketching incidental music for Gozzi's Chinese fable. He also arranged a concert suite, which was first performed in 1905 and published in 1906. A production of Gozzi's play with Busoni's music was mounted by Max Reinhardt
in Berlin in 1911, and for the second and last time in London in 1913. For more information on the composition of the incidental music and the suite, and the productions of the play with Busoni's music, see the article on the Turandot Suite
.
, Busoni, as an Italian, found it increasingly difficult to stay in Berlin and eventually moved to neutral Zurich
where he did not have to take sides. Between late 1915 and August 1916 he was occupied with writing his one-act opera Arlecchino, but the Stadttheater in Zurich was unwilling to mount a production without a companion piece. He swiftly wrote a libretto in German based on Gozzi's original and adapted his Turandot incidental music
into a short two-act opera with some spoken dialogue. Busoni wrote to Egon Petri on 9 November 1916:
Busoni completed the opera Turandot in double-quick time (300 pages in 100 days) in late 1916, and it was first performed with Arlecchino as a double bill - Busoni conducting - in Zurich in 1917. Dent mentions how pleased Busoni was with his own workmanship.
There are various oddities in Busoni's libretto which recall the play's Commedia dell'arte
roots: characters with Italian names like Truffaldino and Pantalone; Allah is praised in China; and there are references to Venice
, St. Mark's
, and gondolas. The spoken dialogue harks back to Mozart's operas, especially The Magic Flute
. In comparison to Puccini's somewhat epically overblown opera on the same subject, Busoni the aesthete retains the intimate, unreal atmosphere of Gozzi's play. Busoni's princess Turandot is not quite so implacable; her heart is readier to melt.
. The producer was Hans Rogorsch, and the designer, Albert Isler. Busoni's one-act opera, Arlecchino
, was also performed on the program as part of a double-bill. Turandot and Arlecchino were first performed in Germany on 20 October 1918 in Frankfurt with Gustav Brecher as the conductor, and again beginning on 26 January 1919 at the Cologne
opera, conducted by Otto Klemperer
who had recently been appointed as "First Conductor." The two operas were performed in Berlin on 19 May 1921 at the Berliner Staatsoper
under the firm baton of the Wagnerian conductor Leo Blech
, with considerable success. The first performance in Italy (without Arlecchino) was on 29 November 1936 in Rome
, conducted by Fernando Previtali
. Previtali, a Busoni champion, went on to conduct performances in other Italian cities and conducted the premiere of the opera at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 1964. The first performance in England was in London
on 19 August 1966, in an English translation by Lionel Salter. The performance was broadcast on the BBC
Third Programme. The American premiere was a concert performance on 10 October 1967 in New York's Philharmonic Hall
, followed by a semi-staged version on 28 January 1980 at the First Presbyterian
Church in Berkeley, California
, conducted by the 28-year-old Kent Nagano
; a fully staged performance was given on 15 November 1986 by the Connecticut Grand Opera in Stamford
with Gregory Stapp
as Emperor Altoum, Juan Luque Carmona as Calaf, and Patricia Craig
in the title role.
s (3rd doubling
piccolo
), 3 oboes (3rd doubling English horn), 3 clarinet
s (3rd doubling bass clarinet
), 3 bassoon
s (3rd doubling contrabassoon
); 4 horn
s, 4 trumpet
s, 3 trombone
s, 1 tuba
; timpani
, percussion (glockenspiel
, triangle
, tambourine
, covered drum, bass drum
, tam-tam); 2 harp
s; soloists, chorus
; strings
.
Busoni: Turandot - Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
production of Gozzi's play with Busoni's incidental music, and this may have played a role in his decision to write his own version
. Andrea Maffei
(who also wrote the libretto for Verdi's I Masnadieri
) had translated his friend Schiller's version of Gozzi's play back into Italian. The librettists for Puccini's Turandot
, Adami
& Simoni, used Maffei's translation, but also turned to Gozzi's original. In addition they made reference to the libretto by Gazzoletti for a little-known opera Turanda by Antonio Bazzini
, who had been one of Puccini's teachers at the Milan Conservatory
. As a result the libretto for Puccini's opera differs considerably from Gozzi's play. Ashbrook and Powers note that several skillful changes in the 'falling action' of the plot (Busoni's Act 2) enabled Busoni to avoid the pitfalls which plagued Puccini's attempt to set Act 3 of his version of the story.
Bertolt Brecht also prepared a version of the story
(1953–54).
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
. Busoni prepared his own libretto, in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, based on the play by Count Carlo Gozzi. The music for Busoni's opera is based on incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
, and the associated Turandot Suite
Turandot Suite
The Turandot Suite, Op. 41 is an orchestral work by Ferruccio Busoni written in 1904-5, based on Carlo Gozzi's play Turandot. The music – in one form or another – occupied Busoni at various times between the years 1904-1917. Busoni arranged the suite from incidental music which he was...
(BV 248), which Busoni had written in 1905 for a production of Gozzi's play. The opera is often performed as part of a double bill with Busoni's earlier one-act opera Arlecchino
Arlecchino (opera)
Arlecchino, oder Die Fenster is a one-act opera with spoken dialog by Ferruccio Busoni, with a libretto in German written by the composer in 1913. He completed the music for the opera while living in Zurich in 1916...
.
Source and previous versions
Carlo GozziCarlo Gozzi
Carlo, Count Gozzi was an Italian playwright.Born in Venice, he came from an old Venetian family from the Republic of Ragusa...
's play Turandot first appeared in 1762. It was originally written to be performed in the small theatre of San Samuele in Venice, and was deliberately written in the Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
style as a reaction to the more modern, realistic plays of Goldoni
Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...
and others.
Schiller made an adapted translation of Turandot which was published in 1802. Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
wrote his Incidental music for Turandot, Op. 37, for a production of this play. It was composed in 1809 and included the earlier Overtura cinese/Chinese Overture, which he had composed on a Chinese theme in 1805. Busoni thought that between them Schiller and Weber had ruined a masterpiece of Italian literature.
Incidental music and orchestral suite
Gozzi's Turandot - in one form or another - occupied Busoni at various times between the years 1904-1917. He was very fond of fantastical and magical tales: his immediately preceding work was the Piano Concerto Op. 39Piano Concerto (Busoni)
The Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 39 , by Ferruccio Busoni, is one of the largest works ever written in this particular genre. The concerto is in five movements, the last of which also utilizes a male chorus singing words from the final scene of the verse drama Aladdin by Adam Oehlenschläger.The...
BV247, which included music from an unfinished adaptation of Oehlenschlager's Aladdin.
In 1904 Busoni began sketching incidental music for Gozzi's Chinese fable. He also arranged a concert suite, which was first performed in 1905 and published in 1906. A production of Gozzi's play with Busoni's music was mounted by Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
in Berlin in 1911, and for the second and last time in London in 1913. For more information on the composition of the incidental music and the suite, and the productions of the play with Busoni's music, see the article on the Turandot Suite
Turandot Suite
The Turandot Suite, Op. 41 is an orchestral work by Ferruccio Busoni written in 1904-5, based on Carlo Gozzi's play Turandot. The music – in one form or another – occupied Busoni at various times between the years 1904-1917. Busoni arranged the suite from incidental music which he was...
.
Composition of the opera
After the outbreak of hostilities at the beginning of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Busoni, as an Italian, found it increasingly difficult to stay in Berlin and eventually moved to neutral Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
where he did not have to take sides. Between late 1915 and August 1916 he was occupied with writing his one-act opera Arlecchino, but the Stadttheater in Zurich was unwilling to mount a production without a companion piece. He swiftly wrote a libretto in German based on Gozzi's original and adapted his Turandot incidental music
Turandot Suite
The Turandot Suite, Op. 41 is an orchestral work by Ferruccio Busoni written in 1904-5, based on Carlo Gozzi's play Turandot. The music – in one form or another – occupied Busoni at various times between the years 1904-1917. Busoni arranged the suite from incidental music which he was...
into a short two-act opera with some spoken dialogue. Busoni wrote to Egon Petri on 9 November 1916:
The important question as to which piece should be coupled with the hour-long Arlecchino so as to fill an evening, my resultant difficulties and the desire to establish such a programme in a durably valid form have led me to the hasty decision to form an opera in 2 acts out of the material and substance of Turandot. For a few weeks now I have been hard at work on this delightful task, writing the libretto and music for a Turandot opera. I am re-writing the text completely and independently, and bringing it closer in tone to a pantomime or stage play. It is a more arduous task than I had initially assumed, but it is coming easily to me. The masque-figures common to both pieces serve to link them (although they otherwise contrast completely with each other).
Busoni completed the opera Turandot in double-quick time (300 pages in 100 days) in late 1916, and it was first performed with Arlecchino as a double bill - Busoni conducting - in Zurich in 1917. Dent mentions how pleased Busoni was with his own workmanship.
There are various oddities in Busoni's libretto which recall the play's Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
roots: characters with Italian names like Truffaldino and Pantalone; Allah is praised in China; and there are references to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, St. Mark's
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...
, and gondolas. The spoken dialogue harks back to Mozart's operas, especially The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
. In comparison to Puccini's somewhat epically overblown opera on the same subject, Busoni the aesthete retains the intimate, unreal atmosphere of Gozzi's play. Busoni's princess Turandot is not quite so implacable; her heart is readier to melt.
Final thoughts
Re-using some of the material he had composed for the opera, Busoni again revised the orchestral Turandot Suite in 1917, replacing the Funeral March of the last movement with Altoum's Warning, BV 248b. Busoni also separately published Altoums Gebet from Act 2 (newly written for the opera) as Altoum's Prayer, BV 277 op. 49 no. 1 for baritone and small orchestra.Performance history of the opera
The premiere performance of Busoni's Turandot was on 11 May 1917 at the Stadttheater, ZürichZurich Opera House
Opernhaus Zürich is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zurich. It has been the home of the Zurich Opera since 1891.- History :...
. The producer was Hans Rogorsch, and the designer, Albert Isler. Busoni's one-act opera, Arlecchino
Arlecchino (opera)
Arlecchino, oder Die Fenster is a one-act opera with spoken dialog by Ferruccio Busoni, with a libretto in German written by the composer in 1913. He completed the music for the opera while living in Zurich in 1916...
, was also performed on the program as part of a double-bill. Turandot and Arlecchino were first performed in Germany on 20 October 1918 in Frankfurt with Gustav Brecher as the conductor, and again beginning on 26 January 1919 at the Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
opera, conducted by Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
who had recently been appointed as "First Conductor." The two operas were performed in Berlin on 19 May 1921 at the Berliner Staatsoper
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
under the firm baton of the Wagnerian conductor Leo Blech
Leo Blech
Leo Blech was a German opera composer and conductor who is perhaps most famous for his work at the Königliches Schauspielhaus Leo Blech (21 April 1871 – 25 August 1958) was a German opera composer and conductor who is perhaps most famous for his work at the Königliches Schauspielhaus Leo...
, with considerable success. The first performance in Italy (without Arlecchino) was on 29 November 1936 in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, conducted by Fernando Previtali
Fernando Previtali
Fernando Previtali was an Italian conductor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, especially Verdi operas....
. Previtali, a Busoni champion, went on to conduct performances in other Italian cities and conducted the premiere of the opera at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 1964. The first performance in England was in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 19 August 1966, in an English translation by Lionel Salter. The performance was broadcast on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Third Programme. The American premiere was a concert performance on 10 October 1967 in New York's Philharmonic Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
, followed by a semi-staged version on 28 January 1980 at the First Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
Church in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, conducted by the 28-year-old Kent Nagano
Kent Nagano
__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
; a fully staged performance was given on 15 November 1986 by the Connecticut Grand Opera in Stamford
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
with Gregory Stapp
Gregory Stapp
Gregory Stapp is an American bass who has performed actively in concerts and operas internationally for more than 35 years. He has had a particularly fruitful partnership with the San Francisco Opera, portraying more than 30 roles with the company since 1980. He has also worked actively as a...
as Emperor Altoum, Juan Luque Carmona as Calaf, and Patricia Craig
Patricia Craig
Patricia Craig is an American operatic soprano and voice teacher.-Operatic career:Born Patricia Duncklee in Long Island, New York, she studied music education at Ithaca College, graduating in 1965. Craig gained her first critical vocal acclaim as a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council...
in the title role.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 11 May 1917 (Conductor: Ferruccio Busoni) |
|---|---|---|
| Altoum, emperor | bass | Laurenz Saeger-Pieroth |
| Turandot, his daughter | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Inez Encke |
| Adelma, her confidante | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Marie Smeikal |
| Kalaf | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
August Richter |
| Barak, his servant | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Tristan Rawson |
| Queen mother Queen mother Queen Mother is a title or position reserved for a widowed queen consort whose son or daughter from that marriage is the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since at least 1577... of Samarkand Samarkand Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came... , a Moor Moors The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed... |
soprano | Elisabeth Rabbow |
| Truffaldino, chief eunuch | tenor | Eugen Nusselt |
| Pantalone Pantalone Pantalone, or Pantalone del bisognosi, Italian for 'Pantalone of the needy', is one of the most important principal characters found in commedia del arte... , minister |
bass | Heinrich Kuhn |
| Tartaglia Tartaglia (commedia dell'arte) Tartaglia is a minor character in the Commedia dell'arte. He is nearsighted and with a terrible stutter , he is usually classed as one of the group of old characters who appears in many scenarios as one of the lovers . His social status varies; he is sometimes a bailiff, lawyer, notary or chemist... , minister |
bass | Wilhelm Bockholt |
| A singer | mezzo-soprano | Marie Smeikal |
| The executioner | silent | Eduard Siding |
| Eight doctors, chorus of slaves, dancers, mourners, eunuchs, soldiers | ||
Instrumentation
3 fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (3rd doubling
Doubling
Doubling may refer to:*in math:**multiplication by 2**doubling the cube, a geometric problem**doubling time, the period of time required for a quantity to double in size or value**doubling map**period-doubling bifurcation***in music:...
piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), 3 oboes (3rd doubling English horn), 3 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s (3rd doubling bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
), 3 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s (3rd doubling contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
); 4 horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s, 4 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, 1 tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
; timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, percussion (glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, triangle
Triangle
A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
, tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, covered drum, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, tam-tam); 2 harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s; soloists, chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
; strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.
Synopsis
Busoni greatly simplified Gozzi's 5-act play into an opera of two acts of two scenes each.- In the first scene Kalaf comes upon the picture discarded by an earlier executed suitor, and determines to win Turandot.
- In the second scene Altoum the emperor complains of Turandot's intransigence. The Prince (Kalaf) says he would rather die than fail to win Turandot. Turandot enters with her maid Adelma who recognises the Prince, but remains silent The Prince correctly answers the three riddles, and challenges Turandot to discover his name and parentage; if she does so, he will depart.
- Act 2 scene 1 begins with a version of Greensleeves. Turandot confesses her mixed feelings for the Prince. Adelma says she knows the Prince's name, and will tell Turandot if she can have her freedom; Turandot agrees.
- Act 2 scene 2. Turandot announces Kalaf's name to general consternation, and he makes ready to depart. But Turandot stops him, saying he has awakened her heart. The work closes with a final ensemble 'Was ist das alle Menschen bindet?' to which is the reply 'Die Liebe'.
Recordings
Busoni: Arlecchino & Turandot - Chorus & Orchestra of the Opéra de LyonOpéra National de Lyon
Opéra National de Lyon is an opera company in Lyon, France which performs in the Nouvel Opéra, a modernized version in 1993 of the original 1831 opera house.The inaugural performance of François-Adrien Boïeldieu's La Dame blanche was given on 1 July 1831...
- Conductor: Kent NaganoKent Nagano__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
- Principal singers: Mechthild Gessendorf (Turandot); Stefan Dahlberg (Kalaf); Franz-Josef Selig (Altoum); Gabriele Sima (Adelma); Falk Struckman (Barak); Anne-Marie Rodde (Queen Mother); Markus Schäfer (Truffaldino); Michael Kraus (Pantalone); Wolfgang HolzmairWolfgang HolzmairWolfgang Holzmair is an Austrian baritone.Holzmair studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He won 2nd prize in the baritone class of the 's-Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition in 1981, and a year later 1st prize in the Musikverein International Lieder Competition,...
(Tartaglia) - Label: Virgin Classics VCD7 59313-2 (2 CDsCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
)
Busoni: Turandot - Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1946 by American occupation forces as the RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester . It was also known as the American Sector Symphony Orchestra...
- Conductor: Gerd AlbrechtGerd AlbrechtGerd Albrecht is a German conductor. He was a first-prize winner at the International Conductors Competition in Besançon at age 22. His first post was as a repetiteur at the Stuttgart State Opera. Later, he became Senior Kapellmeister at the Mainz Municipal Theatre, and Generalmusikdirektor in...
- Principal singers: René PapeRené PapeRené Pape is a German opera singer, a bass.-Biography:Rene Pape was born in Dresden, then part of East Germany. His mother is a hairdresser and his father a chef. His parents divorced when he was two years old and he sometimes lived with his grandmother, who opened the way for his interest in music...
(Altoum); Linda Plech (Turandot); Gabriele SchreckenbachGabriele SchreckenbachGabriele Schreckenbach is a German contralto singer in opera and concert and an academic voice teacher.She recorded Bach cantatas with the Gächinger Kantorei and Helmuth Rilling. She recorded choral works of Mozart, his Waisenhausmesse K. 139 and rarely performed pieces, with the RIAS Kammerchor...
(Adelma); Josef Protschka (Kalaf); Friedrich Molsberger (Barak); Celina Lindsley (Queen Mother); Robert Wörle (Truffaldino); Johannes Werner Prein (Pantalone); Gotthold Schwarz (Tartaglia) - Label: Capriccio 60 039-1 (1 CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
)
Later versions of the Turandot story
Puccini had heard about the 1911 Max ReinhardtMax Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
production of Gozzi's play with Busoni's incidental music, and this may have played a role in his decision to write his own version
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
. Andrea Maffei
Andrea Maffei
Andrea Maffei was an Italian poet, translator and librettist.-Life:Maffei was born in Molina di Ledro, Trentino.A follower of Vincenzo Monti, he formed part of the 19th century Italian classicist literary culture. Gaining laurea in jurisprudence, he moved for some years to Verona, then to Venice...
(who also wrote the libretto for Verdi's I Masnadieri
I masnadieri
I masnadieri is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on Die Räuber by Friedrich von Schiller....
) had translated his friend Schiller's version of Gozzi's play back into Italian. The librettists for Puccini's Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
, Adami
Giuseppe Adami
Giuseppe Adami was an Italian librettist, known for his collaboration with Puccini on La rondine , Il tabarro and Turandot ....
& Simoni, used Maffei's translation, but also turned to Gozzi's original. In addition they made reference to the libretto by Gazzoletti for a little-known opera Turanda by Antonio Bazzini
Antonio Bazzini
Antonio Joseph Bazzini was an Italian violinist, composer and teacher. As a composer his most enduring work is his chamber music which has earned him a central place in the Italian instrumental renaissance of the 19th century...
, who had been one of Puccini's teachers at the Milan Conservatory
Milan Conservatory
The Milan Conservatory is a college of music which was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year with premises in the cloisters of the Baroque church of Santa Maria della Passione. There were initially 18 boarders,...
. As a result the libretto for Puccini's opera differs considerably from Gozzi's play. Ashbrook and Powers note that several skillful changes in the 'falling action' of the plot (Busoni's Act 2) enabled Busoni to avoid the pitfalls which plagued Puccini's attempt to set Act 3 of his version of the story.
Bertolt Brecht also prepared a version of the story
Turandot (Brecht)
Turandot or the Whitewashers' Congress is an epic comedy by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. It was written during the summer of 1953 in Buckow and substantially revised in light of a brief period of rehearsals in 1954, though it did not receive its first production until several...
(1953–54).
Detailed list of performances
The information in this list is from Roberge, unless otherwise noted.
11 May 1917; Zürich; StadttheaterZurich Opera HouseOpernhaus Zürich is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zurich. It has been the home of the Zurich Opera since 1891.- History :...
; Ferruccio Busoni, conductor; Inez Encke, Turandot; August Richter, Kalaf; Laurenz Saeger-Pieroth, Altoum; premiere; double-bill with Arlecchino; see above for more detail.
20 October 1918; Frankfurt am Main; Frankfurter Opernhaus; Gustav Brecher, conductor; Else Gentner-FischerElse Gentner-FischerElse Gentner-Fischer was a German operatic soprano. Although she appeared in operas internationally, her career was mainly centered at the Frankfurt Opera where she was a resident artist from 1907-1935. She excelled in the dramatic soprano repertoire, drawing particular acclaim for her portrayal...
, Turandot; Erik Wirl, Kalaf; Hans ErlHans ErlHans Tobias Erl was a German operatic bass.-Professional career:He began his actual career in the theatre during the 1908-1909 season at the Raimund-Theater in Vienna, after already having sung in the world premiere performance of Oscar Straus' operetta Die lustigen Nibelungen at the Wiener...
, Altoum; first performance in Germany; double-bill with Arlecchino.
26 January 1919; CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
; Otto KlempererOtto KlempererOtto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
, conductor; double-bill with Arlecchino.
1920; SaarbrückenSaarbrückenSaarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
; double-bill with Arlecchino; no further details.
19 May 1921; BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
; Berlin State OperaBerlin State OperaThe Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
; Leo BlechLeo BlechLeo Blech was a German opera composer and conductor who is perhaps most famous for his work at the Königliches Schauspielhaus Leo Blech (21 April 1871 – 25 August 1958) was a German opera composer and conductor who is perhaps most famous for his work at the Königliches Schauspielhaus Leo...
, conductor; Lola Artôt de Padilla, Turandot; double-bill with Arlecchino.
8 January 1922; Berlin; double-bill with Arlecchino; no further details.
1925; MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
; no further details.
1926; LeipzigLeipzigLeipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
; Leipzig Oper; Gustav Brecher, conductor; double-bill with Arlecchino, conducted by Oskar Braun.
1928; WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
; no further details.
1930; KönigsbergKönigsbergKönigsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
; Ludwig, conductor; no further details.
4 October 1930; MannheimMannheimMannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
; Nationaltheater Mannheim; Ernst Cremer, conductor; Else Schulz, Turandot; Helmut Neugebauer, Kalaf; Wilhelm Fenton, Altoum.
29 November 1936; RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
; Auditorium EIAREnte Italiano per le Audizioni RadiofonicheThe Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche was the only public service broadcaster in Italy and the only one allowed to do so.-History:...
; Fernando Previtali, conductor; Gabriella Gatti, Turandot; Piero Pauli, Kalaf; Gregorio Pasetti, Altoum; concert version?; first performance in Italy.
18 May 1940; FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
; Teatro della Pergola; Fernando Previtali, conductor; Maria Carbone, Turandot; Alessandro Ziliani, Kalaf; Alfredo Coletta, Altoum.
7 March 1942; Rome; Teatro Reale del Opera; Fernando Previtali, conductor; Maria Carbone, Turandot; Aurelio Marcato, Kalaf; Giulio Neri, Altoum.
12 January 1947; London (broadcast?); Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk; Philip Jarnach, conductor; Klara Ebers, Turandot; Wilhelm Lückert, Kalaf; Theo Herman, Altoum; first performance in Germany after the war.
28 October 1947; HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
; Hamburgische Staatsoper; Arthur Grüber, conductor; Helene Werth, Turandot; Helmut Melchert, Kalaf; Sigmund Roth, Altoum.
21 January 1953; Rome; Auditorium RAI, ; Fernando Previtali, conductor; Magda Laszló, Turandot; Amadeo Berdini, Kalaf; Antonio Cassinelli, Altoum; first performance in Italy after the war.
5 December 1953; NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
; Teatro San Carlo; Gianandrea GavazzeniGianandrea GavazzeniGianandrea Gavazzeni was an Italian pianist, conductor , composer and musicologist.Gavazzeni was born in Bergamo. For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor at La Scala, Milan, in 1966-68 being its music and artistic director.He had his Metropolitan Opera debut on 11...
, conductor; Anna de Cavalieri, Turandot; Giuseppe Campora, Kalaf; Raffaele Ariè, Altoum.
1958; DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
; Landestheater; Hans Zanotelli, conductor; Ursula Lippman, Turandot; double-bill with Arlecchino.
10 December 1959; Hamburg; Norddeutscher Rundfunk; Wolfgang Ebert, conductor; Edith Lang, Turandot; Heinz Hoppe, Kalaf; Ernst Wiemann, Altoum.
6 May 1961; GenoaGenoaGenoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
; Teatro Carlo FeliceTeatro Carlo FeliceThe Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the Piazza De Ferrari....
; Franco CapuanaFranco CapuanaFranco Capuana was an Italian conductor.Born in Fano in the Province of Pesaro and Urbino, he was the younger brother of mezzo-soprano Maria Capuana. He became associated with the Teatro di San Carlo in 1930 and La Scala in 1937. In 1940 he conducted the premiere of Ghedini's opera La pulce d'oro...
, conductor; Anna De Cavalieri, Turandot; Renato CioniRenato CioniRenato Cioni is an Italian operatictenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born on the Isle of Elba, the son of a fisherman, Cioni received his main musical education at the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence...
, Kalaf; Paolo MontarsoloPaolo MontarsoloPaolo Montarsolo was an Italian operatic bass particularly associated with buffo roles.-Biography:Montarsolo was born in Portici...
, Altoum.
17 February 1962; MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
; Teatro alla Scala; Nino SanzognoNino SanzognoNino Sanzogno was an Italian conductor and composer.He studied the violin with Guarneri and composition with Agostini at the Venice Liceo Musicale, and later conducting in Vienna with Hermann Scherchen...
, conductor; Raina KabaivanskaRaina KabaivanskaRaina Kabaivanska is a Bulgarian opera singer, one of the leading lyrico-spinto sopranos of her generation, particularly associated with Verdi and Puccini, although she sang a wide range of roles....
, Turandot; Renato Cioni, Kalaf; Nicola Zaccaria, Altoum; Italian translation by Oriana Previtali.
14 August 1964; Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
; Teatro Colón; Fernando Previtali, conductor; Margherita Roberti, Turandot; Carlo CossuttaCarlo CossuttaCarlo Cossutta was a prominent Italian dramatic tenor who had a major international opera career that spanned from the mid 1950s through the late 1990s. He began and ended his career at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires where he sang regularly from 1958 through 1998...
, Kalaf; Jorge Algorta, Altoum; first performance outside Europe.
1965; Berlin?
1966; Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen?
1966; Hamburg; double-bill with Arlecchino.
1 February 1966; Berlin; Deutsche Oper BerlinDeutsche Oper BerlinThe Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
; Giuseppe PatanéGiuseppe PatanèGiuseppe Patanè was an Italian opera conductor.Giuseppe Patané was born in Naples, the son of the conductor Franco Patanè , and studied in his native city. He made his debut there in 1951. He was principal conductor at the Linz opera from 1961–1962...
, conductor; Annabelle Bernard, Turandot; Ernst HaefligerErnst HaefligerErnst Haefliger was a Swiss tenor.Haefliger was born in Davos, Switzerland and studied at the Zürich Conservatory. He studied with Fernando Capri in Geneva and Julius Patzak in Vienna....
, Kalaf; Ivan Sardi, Altoum.
19 April 1966; London; BBC.
19 August 1966; London; BBC Third Programme (Broadcast performance); Lawrence LeonardLawrence LeonardLawrence Leonard was a British conductor, cellist, composer, teacher and writer.Leonard received his musical education at the Royal Academy of Music and the École Normale de Musique de Paris...
, conductor; Pauline Tinsley, Turandot; John MitchinsonJohn MitchinsonFor the English tenor, see John Mitchinson .For the Bishop, see John Mitchinson .John Mitchinson is the head of research for the British television panel game QI, and is also the managing director of Quite Interesting Limited. He is co-writer of the QI series of books with the show's creator John...
, Kalaf; first performance in England.
19 January 1967; TurinTurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
; Auditorium RAI; Mario RossiMario RossiMario Rossi was an Italian conductor, noted for his solid and meticulous readings of a repertory ranging from Italian classics to Russian moderns such as Prokoffiev, to the German operatic classicist Christoph Willibald Gluck.He studied composition in Rome with Respighi and conducting with Giacomo...
, conductor; Floriana Cavalli, Turandot; Herbert Handt, Kalaf; Ferruccio Mazzoli, Altoum.
10 October 1967; New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
; Philharmonic HallAvery Fisher HallAvery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
; Little Orchestra Society; Thomas Scherman, conductor; Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Turandot; William Brown, Kalaf; Guus Hoekman, Altoum; concert version; first performance in the United States.
13 November 1967; Cologne; Westdeutscher Rundfunk; Mario Rossi, conductor; Charlotte Berthold, Turandot; Eberhardt katz, kalaf; Eduard Wollitz, Altoum.
8 March 1969; StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
; first performance in Sweden.
27 March 1973; VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
; Teatro La Fenice; Ettore GracisEttore GracisEttore Gracis was an Italian conductor. Born in La Spezia, he studied at the Venice Conservatory and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana. He became involved with the Venice Festival of Contemporary Music and the Naples Festival, conducting modern revivals of classical Italian and German operas...
, conductor; Virginia ZeaniVirginia ZeaniVirginia Zeani is a Romanian soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, especially the role of in "La traviata".-Early life:Zeani was born Virginia Zehan, in Solovăstru, Romania...
, Turandot; Angelo Mori, Kalaf; Mario Rinaudo/Lorenzo Gaetani, Altoum.
1978 (before May); London; Abbey Opera; Cockpit TheatreCockpit Theatre (Marylebone)The Cockpit Theatre is a Fringe Theatre in Marylebone, London. The Cockpit Theatre was designed by Edward Mendelsohn built in 1969-70 by the Inner London Education Authority as a community theatre and is notable as London's first purpose built Theatre In The Round, since the Great Fire of London...
.
28 January 1980; Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
; First Presbyterian Church; Berkeley Promenade Orchestra; Kent NaganoKent Nagano__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
, conductor; Betsy Bell Taylor, Turandot; Jeffrey Carney, Kalaf; William De Valentine, Altoum; semi-staged version; colloquial translation by Ross Halper.
24 April 1980; TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
; Theater der Stadt; Rainer Baum, conductor; Hara Savino, Turandot; Antonis J. Constantino, Kalaf; Nick Herbosch, Altoum; double-bill with Arlecchino.
7 November 1985; Frankfurt am Main; Hessischer Rundfunk (Rundfunk-Konzerte in der alten Oper); Sabine Hass, Turandot; Josef Protschka, Kalaf; Harald Stamm, Altoum; concert version.
15 November 1986; Connecticut Grand Opera and StamfordStamford, ConnecticutStamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
State Opera; Laurence Gilgore, conductor; Patricia CraigPatricia CraigPatricia Craig is an American operatic soprano and voice teacher.-Operatic career:Born Patricia Duncklee in Long Island, New York, she studied music education at Ithaca College, graduating in 1965. Craig gained her first critical vocal acclaim as a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council...
, Turandot; Juan Luque Carmona, Kalaf; Gregory Strapp, Altoum; repeated on 22 November 1986 in BridgeportBridgeportBridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut.Bridgeport may also refer to:-Places:In Canada:* Bridgeport, Nova ScotiaIn the United States:* Bridgeport, Alabama* Bridgeport, California, in Mono County...
.
23 October 1988; Wexford; Wexford Festival; Simon Joly, conductor; Kristine Ciesinski, Turandot; Milan Voldrich, Kalaf; Norman Bailey, Altoum; first performance in IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
11 November 1988; OberhausenOberhausenOberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
; Theater Oberhausen; Thomas Modos, conductor; Martha Winkelmann, Turandot; Max Voigt, Kalaf; Gottfried Driesch, Altoum.
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Ashbrook, William; Powers, Harold (1991). Puccini's Turandot: The End of the Great Tradition, Ch II, pp. 56-58. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691027129.
Beaumont, AntonyAntony BeaumontAntony Beaumont is an English and German musicologist, writer, conductor and violinist. As a conductor, he has specialized in German music from the first half of the 20th century, including works by Zemlinsky, Weill, and Gurlitt...
(1985). Busoni the Composer. London: Faber and FaberFaber and FaberFaber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
. ISBN 0571131492.
Beaumont, AntonyAntony BeaumontAntony Beaumont is an English and German musicologist, writer, conductor and violinist. As a conductor, he has specialized in German music from the first half of the 20th century, including works by Zemlinsky, Weill, and Gurlitt...
, ed. (1987). Busoni: Selected Letters. New York: Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
. ISBN 0231064608.
Carter, Huntly (1914). The Theatre of Max Reinhardt. New York: Mitchell Kennerley. Archive.org OCR text. Accessed 24 September 2009.
Couling, Della (2005). Ferruccio Busoni: A musical Ishmael. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5142-3.
Dent, Edward J.Edward Joseph DentEdward Joseph Dent, generally known by his initials as E. J. Dent was a British writer on music....
(1933). Ferruccio Busoni: A Biography. London: Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
. (Reprint: London: Ernst EulenbergErnst Eulenburg (musical editions)Ernst Eulenburg the music publisher was established by Ernst Eulenburg in Leipzig in 1874. The firm started by publishing a series of studies by a Dresden piano teacher, and then expanded into light music and works for men's chorus, at first all non-copyright works.-Origins of the miniature...
, 1974. ISBN 0903873028.)
Kindermann, Jürgen (1980). Thematisch-chronologisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Ferruccio B. Busoni. Studien zur Musikgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts, vol. 19. Regensburg: Gustav Bosse Verlag. ISBN 3764920335.
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Schiller, Friedrich (1802). Turandot, Prinzessin von China. Ein tragicomisches Märchen nach Gozzi. Tübingen: J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. Google Books: Full preview. Accessed 19 September 2009.
Vollmöller, KarlKarl VollmöllerKarl Gustav Vollmöller, usually written Vollmoeller was a German playwright and screenwriter.He is most famous for two works, the screenplay for the celebrated 1930 German film Der Blaue Engel , which made a star of Marlene Dietrich, and the elaborate religious spectacle-pantomime Das Mirakel ,...
(1911). Turandot chinesisches Märchenspiel von Carlo Gozzi; Deutsch von Karl Vollmoeller. Berlin: S. Fischer.
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