Turandot (I) (1983 TV Movie) User Reviews

An Exciting Turandot Starring The Volcano-Voiced Dimitrova

[FloatingOpera7 · 10/10 · 11 April 2006]

Puccini's Turandot: Starring Ghena Dimitrova, Nicola Martinucci, Cecilia Gasdia, Ivo Vinco, Gianfranco Manganotti, Graziano Polidori, Pier Francesco Poli, Antonio Bevacqua, Ivan Del Manto...Director Brian Large From 1983, it stars Ghena Dimitrova as the imperious Chinese Empress Turandot. It was filmed live at the Arena Di Verona, Italy, a large amphitheater renowned for its special repertoire of grand operas like Aida. Being in the outdoors in such a spacious locale, it is prime stage ground for operas that call for huge crowd scenes, choruses and numerous characters and lavish sets. This would be Franco Zefferelli's idea of operatic paradise. Bulgarian diva Ghena Dimitrova is in excellent voice, though it appears that the Riddle Scene with its killer tessitura causes her some strain. In the 80's, she was singing a vast repertoire of dramatic roles including Tosca, Norma, Lady Macbeth and her signature role Abigaille in Nabucco. Her voice is unbelievable and I cannot express in words the sheer magnetism of her singing. Her voice is quite possibly the largest in operatic history. Maria Callas may have had a huge voice, as did Birgit Nilsson, but Ghena Dimitrova could reach to the stratosphere's with effortless bravura and could darken her voice and put meat on it. The result is electrifying. Her Turandot is a force of nature. Though she is dressed in what appears to be a demure white gown, her mannerisms, facial expressions and invective tone conveys a goddess-like majesty few sopranos have. The costumes are authentically Chinese, the set is glorious and grand, and the soprano singing the minor role of the slave girl Liu is Cecilia Gazdia, whose pretty, lyric voice is capable of a lot juicier repertoire like Marguerite in Faust, Rossini heroines and even obscure bel canto operas which she recorded. Cecilia Gazdia's Liu is the most convincing Liu I've ever seen. She is not the dramatic/hefty Lius of other singers like Montserrat Caballe, Edda Moser, Leonie Mitchell, Renata Scotto (though Scotto was perfect in size/height for the role). The orchestra is thunderous and the quality of film is great. The story of the opera is based on a simple Chinese legend. Turandot, daughter of the Emperor, refuses to love any man and marry out of her hatred toward the men who raped and slaughtered her Ancestor Princess Lou-Ling. A law was made that the man who successfully answers the famed Three Riddles would marry Turandot. But the riddles are baffling and every prince that tries has been put to death and hung on the walls of the city. Along comes Calaf, our tenor hero, boldly declaring he will win Turandot as wife. He answers the riddles but Turandot does not consent to be his. He, in return, puts her on a trial. If she guesses his name before sunset the next day, she is saved from her fate of marriage. But Princess Liu, Calaf's slave, loves the Prince and sacrifices herself for him. The icy Turandot experiences her first kiss and becomes fully human. Fans of Ghena Dimitrova will want to get this DVD as soon as it is released.

Beautiful production of an opera I am quite fond of

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 4 July 2011]

Puccini's last opera Turandot isn't my favourite of his, that's Tosca closely followed by La Boheme, but it is very special to me as it was the first opera I sang in four years ago. I prefer the 1987/8 production with Eva Marton and Placido Domingo, but this is still a beautiful production and still one of the better Turandots I've seen.

The only problem I had regarding this production was that sometimes the performers are out of sync particularly in the three riddles scene, and this is a lot to do with the ambiance and how far apart from the orchestra they are.

That aside, the costumes are gorgeous and very authentic and the sets are lavish. The video directing captures all this perfectly. The orchestra noise is like thunder in some scenes, the conducting is excellent and the chorus do a fine job particularly in the fiendishly difficult grind-and-sharpen chorus(I still remember that disaster of an opening night we had doing this chorus with the basses missing half of their entries).

The performances are very good. Nicola Martinucci is a convincing Calaf with a great voice and while believable I don't find him completely commanding. Ivor Vinco is a powerful and noble Timur, Cecilia Gasdia's Liu particularly in her suicide scene is very poignant and Ping, Pong and Pang steal every scene they're in. The best performance comes from Ghena Dimotrova in the title role, she is absolutely brilliant, being imperiously chilling dramatically and when it comes to the voice I have heard few contemporary soprano voices as big and as (quite) dark as hers.

Overall, beautiful. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I got what I could get ...

[Dennette · 9/10 · 19 July 2002]

Turandot is one of my favorite operas, and I have seen live performances on several occasions. I wanted a copy of my own on VHS, and at the time (about ten years ago) this was the only one I could get ... I'm seriously considering replacing it with the 1987 version with Eva Marton and Plácido Domingo. This is a well done production, but it's performed in a large stadium, and the acoustics ruin it ... the performers are so far apart, and so far from the orchestra, that they are badly out of sync. There is a very short duet in which Turandot sings, "The riddles are three, death is one!" while the prince sings, "The riddles are three, life is one!" ... it's painful to hear how out of sync they are because of distance and the echoes. On the bright side, Ping, Pang, and Pong are delightful, stealing every scene they're in!