Great Performances (TV Series) Turandot at the Forbidden City of Beijing (1999) User Reviews

A Fantastic Film

[artzau · 9/10 · 28 January 2006]

OK, now take Puccini. Zhang Yimou. Zubin Mehta. Peking. China. Italy. A Florentine chorus in the the Forbidden City. Colors. And then, culture clashes. Add it all up and you wind up with something absolutely magical and memorable. Let me be straight from the beginning: I'm a big fan of Zhang Yimou and have been so ever since I saw Red Sorghum. I have been a fan of Mehta's ever since he showed up in the US after working with Von Karajan in Vienna. Too, I'm an opera buff who loves-- no, adores-- Puccini. And, I'm an anthropologist who loves movies.

The cultural overlays in this production are incredible. When I saw Turandot performed for the first time in Italy, it was fabulous. But, while the costumes and settings were imaginative, I knew they were not really representative of classical China. They were a mix of Japanese, Asian and Italian imagination but we were all able to let that attachment with reality go in the magic of Puccini's music. Not so, Zhang Yimou, a Chinese perfectionist whose artistic talent and tradition demands authenticity. As he tells his crew that not to do so would be a "joke" to Chinese Culture, he clearly inserts the importance of "saving face" to his colleagues. Mehta, the guy who put it all together, had more guts than a slaughterhouse to undertake this project. But, wow! What a project! What fantastic colors! What a show! Yes, the film's music is a bit weakened by the massive setting but the heart of the project is displayed without flaws.

Lavish setting. Marvelous production. Thin on sound.

[bogracs · 9/10 · 10 November 2003]

Lavish, authentic setting. Choice of the Ninja-style executioner as a red-flag waving female-- a superb touch! Staging incredible! Overall acting-- a Forbidden City "B". Sound engineering/production-- disappointingly thin (perhaps due to the "outdoor" staging). However, the sound track, featured separately from the stage production on the DVD, was excellent! This DVD also features interviews with principal artists, staging, and captivating behind-the-scenes interviews.

Fantastic production values and a quite unique performance...

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 28 March 2012]

I have a big soft spot for Puccini's final opera Turandot. It mayn't be my favourite work of his, but again I adore Puccini so much, but having sung in the chorus for it it's bound to have left an impression on me. This performance is unique and quite wonderful, not perfect, and perhaps not my first choice(either the 1988 Met performance or the 1983 production with Marton and Ricciarelli), but the pros do outweigh the cons and it is worth looking out for overall.

Firstly, apart from too many shots of the chorus, who are a little static, this is fantastic visually. With gorgeous settings, a huge stage and oriental costumes- Liu's costume is perhaps too elaborate for a slave girl though- it certainly looks authentic, and the colours are so rich and beautiful to look at. The camera work and picture quality are generally very good, but the sound quality not so much, a little too thin at times. I did love the staging, especially the eye-catching Chinese traditional culture elements( Chinese martial art, dance, calligraphy, ancient costumes, Peking opera and drums), making it the most authentic and real Turandot I've seen.

Dramatically, it is also mostly convincing, with many moments of refinements. Liu's death scene is incredibly emotional and the Riddle scene evoked chills, but there are also one or two disappointments, with the final duet a little limp with Casolla and Larin lacking chemistry and Ping, Pong and Pang's trio is performed beautifully but sidelined by some weird character affectations. Also you can see them with a handkerchief, calabash and abacus, I liked that they used props but I was a little confused at the significance of those three items in particular. The chorus are vocally great, but apart from a genuinely awe-inspiring reaction to the moon are a little static, and a lot of this had to do with how they were situated on stage.

Musically, it is superb, Turandot is Puccini's most orchestrally rich score, and the orchestra play it so powerfully with many moments and beauty and while there are moments like at the start and a couple of spots in Act 2 where the tempos are a tad exaggerated, Zubin Mehta's conducting is very efficient and authoritative. When it comes to the performances, it was a case of the singing being better than the acting, but there is still much to like.

The two most consistent performances are Barbara Frittoli's Liu and Carlo Colombara's Timur. Frittoli is very poignant in this role, I often find that Liu is the one who steals the show and the character who I identify most with, here is no exception. Frittoli is heavenly vocally with superb pianissimo singing; her acting, which I can find mechanical, is involved and moving. Colombara is noble and firm, making me cry as he mourned Liu, and he is powerful and resonant vocally.

Giovanna Casolla is vocally thrilling as Turandot, one of the taxing soprano roles there is, and acts the riddle scene with a lot of fire. Sergej Larin sings wonderfully, with a competent(if lacking Corelli's intensity) Nessun Dorma, but his acting is rather stolid with facial expressions that I found off-putting. Ping, Pong and Pang are well matched and manage to put their all into what they've got.

All in all, unique and visually fantastic. A perfect performance? No. A worth watching performance? Absolutely yes. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Excellent performance, DVD could have been better

[garcianc2003 · 8/10 · 4 July 2006]

I considered going to this performance until I saw the price tag. Seeing the DVD, I wonder if I would have enjoyed it in person. The audience looked uncomfortable, there were tourists taking flash photography during the performance, etc. The performance was great and the staging was superb. The ninja executioner was brilliant, especially for DVD audiences who may not fully appreciate the static elements of the staging. The DVD I am not so happy with. I have a San Francisco Opera's laserdisc performance that aired on PBS that is still a better experience than this DVD. Why no Dolby Digital? The PCM audio track is a joke. I also happen to own a Placido Domingo, London Philarmonic, CD performance of Turandot which sounds much better than this PCM track. For instance, the beginning of the second scene on the second act (after the Ping, Pang, Pong trio) when the imperial court assembles should sound thunderous and full of pomp - in the PCM track it is as flat as a radio broadcast. I still love Turandot, as you might have guessed. I think Zubin Metha is a living treasure. I also applaud the producers for the courage to bring this performance to the Forbidden City. Perhaps the next time I can afford to go in person.