Turandot by Puccini, Fra (2023/2023), Instrueret af Matteo Peirone, Aquiles Machado,, Dirigent Martin Mázik, Constantin Rouits, Maison de la Culture, Clermont-Ferrand, France

When a composer who has come to the end of his life declares: "All the music I have written until now seems like a joke compared to the music I am writing at the moment", and that composer is called Puccini, there is something to pay attention to. With this fable of barbaric romanticism that takes us on a journey to the very heart of imperial China, Puccini composes a testamentary work of dangerous beauty where everything is immense and sumptuous. In this drama, a haughty and cruel princess promises to marry whoever solves three puzzles. If you fail, it will be death. Calaf, fascinated by the princess, solves the three riddles but also challenges her: he will admit defeat if Turandot finds out her name. Only one person knows this name, the slave Liù, in love with Calaf. The story is centered on these two female figures that everything opposes: the cold Princess Turandot, a ferocious being driven by revenge and the touching Liù who embodies love up to the supreme sacrifice, archetype of Puccinian heroines whose fragility and candor sign the inevitable loss.La Bohème and the delicate Madame Butterfly, and forms a striking contrast with the inflexible Turandot. The tragedy of passion counterbalanced by comic parentheses, the intensity of the intimate drama tinged with the mysterious charm of the Orient, the bewitching atmosphere of fantastic legends, are all elements of this monument of lyrical art where Puccini brings the expressive possibilities of melody to the highest possible level. The pinnacle of Italian opera at the start of the 20th century , Turandot is above all the ultimate masterpiece by Puccini, who knew how to make the infinitely delicate grandiose.