Life, they say, begins at forty, which is precisely the age of Andrei Serban’s version of Turandot for the Royal Opera. This meticulously crafted version had plenty of life before 40, but the current production is better than ever.
The rather implausible story features a princess in Ancient China who tests any potential suitor three with three riddles.
If they get them all right, they can marry her; but one incorrect answer condemns them to immediate beheading.
Despite the danger, prince Calaf falls hopelessly in love with Turandot at first sight, gets all the riddles right, then absurdly gives princess Turandot a let-out: if she can guess his name before sunrise, she can execute him.
As quiz tactics go, this is absurdly risky, and to make matters worse, it condemns his lifelong friend, the loyal slave-girl Liu, to be tortured to death while refusing to divulge his identity, and then Calaf tells Turandot his name, so that she will see how much he loves her and fall in love with him herself.
Making this work on stage is quite a challenge, but Serban’s dramatic staging emphasises, through strong design, the exaggerated fable nature of the tale while the three main characters are all played with great conviction to make it all seem almost plausible – at least for a parable set in ancient China.
The title role is beautifully sung by American-Canadian soprano Sondra Radvanovsky who handles the transition from callous misandrist, who loves seeing her suitors’ heads lopped off, to melt into a soppy romantic when seeing the true depths of Calaf’s love.
Calaf himself is gloriously played by South Korean tenor SeokJong Baek whose voice shows the ability to convey both impressive power and surprising tenderness.
For the latter, however, even he was outdone by Russian soprano Anna Princeva as Liu, whose passionate singing conveyed the loyalty and grief of the character perfectly.
With Hansung Yoo, Michael Gibson and Aled Hall in excellent form as the three courtiers Ping, Pong and Pang, whether as a comic trio or singing plaintively of how they miss their homeland, and the chorus showing perfect restraint whether acting or dancing to Kate Flatt’s impeccable choreography, this was a delightful and impressive achievement by revival director Jack Furness.
Puccini appropriately added an oriental twang to his music, particularly in the form of a larger than usual percussion section with a variety of gongs conveying the right flavour when appropriate.
This was very well brought out with energetic conducting by Rafael Payare of Venezuela of the always excellent Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
Seeing a new version of an old favourite is always exciting but as this shows, a revival even of a 40-year-old production can be even more satisfying.
Verdict: Five Stars
Turandot is playing at the Royal Opera House until 19 April.
Box office: rbo.org.uk or 020 7304 4000
This production is also being shown in selected cinemas on Tuesday 1 April 2025. For information see rbo.org.uk/cinemas