Puccini: Turandot

Puccini: Turandot

This is a would-be classic. The younger, pudgier Maria Callas sang the role of Turandot with a hurricane force that's rarely been equaled. But by 1958--when this recording was made--the slimmer, wiser Callas had less of the vocal power required by the opera's Act II shouting match (also known as "The Riddle Scene"), and the character's simplistic motivation (beheading suitors as a way of not dealing with her sexual frigidity) offered little for her sophisticated theatrical imagination. As the suitor who breaks through her barriers, tenor Eugenio Fernandi is little better than adequate. Elsewhere, there are strong pluses: In the uncharacteristic role of Liu, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf summons the honeyed tone of her earlier years as well as the dramatic specificity of her maturity. Conductor Tullio Serafin gives one of his most individualistic, dramatically memorable interpretations. He never lets you forget this is an ugly story about barbaric people, underscoring Puccini's every dissonance and inspiring a supremely vivid performance from the La Scala chorus. <i>--David Patrick Stearns</i>