Should mention that we caught Puccini's "Turandot" at the Metropolitan Opera last week and I haven't stopped thinking about it since.
Although I'm not confident enough in my knowledge to say it is now my favorite opera to date, it definitely felt different from any other work I've seen -- and had me wondering why.
What I came up with is that "Turandot" feels less like a traditional opera and more like an epic fairy tale -- larger in scale, more stylized in its characters, more spectacular in its staging and more modern in its music than the operas I've seen. ("Macbeth," "Carmen," "La Traviata," "The Barber of Seville," "The Marriage of Figaro," "La Boheme," "Aida" and "Tristan und Isolde.")
I was especially drawn to Liu -- rather than the titular diva -- who struck me as the drama's true emotional center, bringing a humanity that the larger-than-life title character lacks. (Maybe not the highest bar given that, as the New York Times notes, Turandot and her suitor remain largely unfazed by the death and dismemberment they instigate -- standing atop a figurative pile of corpses when they finally share true love’s kiss. But at least Turandot had incredible headdresses!)
The production ended on June 7 -- sorry for my tardiness -- but the qualities that made it stand out aren't unique to this staging, so keep an eye out for future productions if a different kind of opera sounds appealing to you.
