Organization

Conductor

Ondrej Olos

Stage director

Jiří Nekvasil

Set designer

Daniel Dvořák

Costume designer

Simona Rybáková

Chorus master

Josef Pančík

Jakub Klecker

Singer

Soprano

Szilvia Rálik

Turandot

Iveta Jiříková

Maida Hundeling

Bass

Jiří Sulženko

Timur

Tenor

Dušan Růžička

The Emperor Altoum

Michal Lehotský

Calaf

Daniela Straková-Šedrlová

Liù

Pavla Vykopalová

Baritone

Jiří Brückler

Ping

Zoltán Korda

Pang

Ondřej Koplík

Petr Levíček

Pong

David Nykl

A Mandarin

Jan Šťáva

Sung-Kyu Park

ND Brno

Others

Chorus of the Janáček Opera of the National Theatre Brno

Orchestra

Orchester des Nationaltheaters Brünn/Brno

Italian

Brno

Czech Republic

Janáčkovo divadlo

Turandot Puccini

Public

Czech

Approved

Who would not guess the riddle will be beheaded…

The world-famous opera about the cruel princess Turandot with breath-taking music and radiant singing.

The beautiful princess Turandot has sworn that she will marry only the prince who solves her three riddles. Anyone who stands trial and fails will lose his head. Prince Calaf, captivated by Turandot’s beauty, takes up the challenge, determined to win her heart or die in the attempt. Calaf succeeds in solving the riddles but Turandot refuses to become his wife. However Calaf offers Turandot a way of escape: if she can discover his name before daybreak, he will consent to die…

In 1920 Giacomo Puccini began searching for a new theme for an opera. The librettists, Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, suggested Turandot, a play by the Italian poet and playwright, Carlo Gozzi written in 1762. However, the history of the bloodthirsty princess dates back to the 12th century where her character appeared in a collection of Persian stories called The Book of One Thousand and One Days by the Persian poet Nizemi. The French orientalist, François Pétis de la Croix, translated the collection into French and published them, thereby introducing the legend to Europe.

Puccini spent the last four years of his life on the composition of Turandot. There were many delays in finishing the libretto and it was reworked several times before the composer was satisfied. Due to the delays and Puccini’s health problems, the work did not progress at a fast rate. In November 1924 Puccini lost his battle with throat cancer leaving the opera unfinished. He had completed the opera up until the final duet, however he had left detailed sketches and instructions for the end of the opera. Franco Alfano was given the task to complete the opera and Turandot had its premiere on 25th April 1926 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, although this performance included only Puccini’s music and not Alfano’s ending. During this initial performance the conductor Arturo Toscanini famously laid down his baton in Act III, declaring ‘at this point, the Maestro died’. On subsequent nights the opera was performed with Alfano’s ending. In 2001 the Italian composer, Luciano Berio, created a new ending based on Puccini’s sketches as well as expanding the musical language. This ending has been sanctioned by Puccini’s estate and was first performed in the Canary Islands in 2002, followed by Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Salzburg.

After more than 15 years, Puccini’s Turandot returns to the stage of the Janáček Theatre. The new staging of the opera is the work of the renowned artistic duo: the director Jiří Nekvasil and the designer Daniel Dvořák, who along with the costume designer Simona Rybáková have prepared an impressive production aimed to show the best of contemporary theatre.

English

Wer das Rätsel nicht errät, der kommt um seinen Kopf…

Die schöne Prinzessin Turandot möchte nicht heiraten. Für ihre Werber hat sie eine grausame Prüfung vorbereitet. Wer drei Rätsel löst, bekommt die Hand der Prinzessin, wer nicht, wird enthauptet. Den Reizen von Turandot erliegt auch der Prinz Calaf und löst die Rätsel. Die gedemütigte Turandot weigert sich aber, seine Frau zu werden, und so schlägt Calaf der Prinzessin vor, dass auch sie raten soll… Die Geschichte von einer blutrünstigen Prinzessin geht auf das 12. Jahrhundert zurück, als sie im Werk des persischen Dichters Nizami erschien. Nach Europa gelangte sie mit der Märchensammlung Tausendundeine Nacht, wo sie von dem italienischen Dramatiker Carlo Gozzi entdeckt wurde. Auch Puccini war von dieser Geschichte mit viel Exotik, Liebe und Poesie gefesselt. Wie bei Madama Butterfly bemühte er sich, ein umfassendes Bild von der Kultur und den Liedern des fernen und exotischen Chinas zu gewinnen. Während der Komposition erlag er jedoch dem Kehlkopfkrebs, sodass die Orchestrierung der Oper von Franco Alfano, seinem Freund und Schüler, beendet wurde. Ein renommiertes Künstlerduo, der Regisseur Jiří Nekvasil und der bildende Künstler Daniel Dvořák, schufen gemeinsam mit der Kostümbildnerin Simona Rybáková eine eindrucksvolle Inszenierung in den besten Intentionen des zeitgenössischen Theaters.

Deutsch

Krásná princezna Turandot se nechce vdávat. Pro své nápadníky při­pravila krutou zkoušku. Kdo uhodne tři hádanky, dostane ruku princez­ny, kdo ne, bude o hlavu kratší. Kouzlu Turandot podlehne i princ Kalaf, který hádanky rozluští. Pokořená Turandot se odmítne stát jeho ženou, a tak Kalaf navrhne princezně možnost rovněž hádat…

Historie příbě­hu o krvelačné princezně sahá až do 12. století, kdy se objevil v díle perského básníka Nzámího. Do Evropy se dostal prostřednictvím sbírky pohádek Tisíc a jeden den, kde ho objevil italský dramatik Carlo Gozzi. I Pucciniho příběh se značnou dávkou exotiky, lásky a poezie zaujal. Tak jako v případě Madamy Butterfly snažil se získat s velkou pečlivos­tí představu o kultuře a písních vzdálené a exotické Číny. V průběhu kompozice však podlehl rakovině hrtanu a instrumentaci opery dokon­čil jeho přítel a žák Franco Alfano.

čeština

Turandot by Puccini, From (2023/2023), Directed by Jiří Nekvasil,, Conductor Ondrej Olos, Jakub Klecker, Janáčkovo divadlo, Brno, Czech Republic

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