Turandot: a spectacular production

The matinee performance of Turandot on 30 January at the Metropolitan Opera in New York was filmed for broadcast to cinemas around the world, including here in South Africa. The running time is 3 hours and 30 minutes, including an interval, and the screening dates and times are as follows: 20 February, 1 and 3 March at 5pm; 21 February at 2.30pm; and on 23 February and 2 March at 11.30am.

Since the company premiere in 1926, which starred Maria Jeritza and Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and was conducted by Tullio Serafin, Turandot has been performed 296 times at the Met with Zeffirelli’s production premiering in 1987. Among the many performers who have sung the leading roles with the company, Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli hold the Met record with 52 and 54 performances, respectively, of the leading roles—more than half of which they sang together between 1961 and 1970.

Paolo Carignani conducts Franco Zeffirelli‘s visually stunning 1987 production. Paolo Carignani made his Met debut in 2008 conducting La Traviata. During previous seasons, he has conducted Aida and Verdi’s Nabucco. The Italian maestro was the chief conductor of the Frankfurt Opera from 1997 to 2008.

Demanding title role

Swedish dramatic soprano Nina Stemme sings her first Met performances of the demanding title role of Puccini’s ice princess of ancient China, whose riddles doom on every suitor who seeks her hand. Nina Stemme previously sang the role of Turandot at La Scala and in her native country, Sweden, at the Royal Swedish Opera and Dalhalla Opera. She made her Met debut in 2000 as Senta in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer and was last seen at the Met in the title role in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos in 2010. In the spring, Stemme adds a new role to her Met repertory as the title character in the new production of Strauss’s Elektra.

Soprano Anita Hartig makes her company role debut as the angelic slave girl Liù. In January, Anita Hartig made her Met role debut as Liù, a role she has previously sung at the Bavarian State Opera. In 2013, she made her company debut as Mimì in La Bohème, and last season, she sang the role of Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen. Later this year, she will star as Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Met, a role she has sung previously with the Vienna State Opera and Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Tenor Marco Berti sings the role of Calàf, the brave prince and suitor who sings the famous Nessun Dorma and risks his head for Turandot’s hand. Marco Berti first sang Calàf at the Met in 2012. He has sung the role at many other opera houses including the Berlin State Opera, La Scala, and San Francisco Opera. His other roles at the Met have included Radamès in Aida, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Don José in Carmen, and Manrico in Il Trovatore. This season, Berti will also sing Radamès in Aida at Teatro Regio Torino and Pollione in Bellini’s Norma at the Paris Opera.

Alexander Tsymbalyuk sings the role of the disguised King of Tartary, Timur. Alexander Tsymbalyuk has previously sung Timur at La Scala and the Hamburg State Opera. He made his Met debut in 2010 as Ferrando in Il Trovatore and later sang Lodovico in Otello in 2013. Later this season, he can be seen as King René in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at the Paris Opera and both the title role in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera.

Puccini’s Turandot will be screened exclusively at Cinema Nouveau and select Ster-Kinekor theatres country wide from Saturday, 20 February, 2016, including: Gateway Nouveau in Durban; V&A Waterfront Nouveau in Cape Town; Ster-Kinekor Somerset Mall in Somerset West and Garden Route Mall in George; Rosebank Nouveau and Ster-Kinekor Bedford Centre in Joburg; and at Brooklyn Nouveau in Pretoria.

Special intermission feature

Included in the special intermission feature, hosted by Renée Fleming, are:

• A special peek into a staging rehearsal of the Met’s new production of Manon Lescaut, starring Kristine Opolais, which will be screened at Cinema Nouveau from 26 March.
  
• Backstage features and live interviews with the Met’s technical staff and stage managers from their perspectives about cueing the massive and complicated scene changes
  
• A special 10th anniversary feature highlighting memorable behind-the-scenes moments from Live in HD transmissions

These features give cinema audiences an unprecedented look at what goes into staging an opera at one of the world’s greatest houses. The series has become a global phenomenon with more than 20 million tickets sold since its inception 10 years ago.

The series of grand operas filmed at the iconic Metropolitan Opera House feature some of the world’s most talented singers, conductors, composers, orchestra musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers and dancers. With these exclusive productions, Cinema Nouveau continues to give local audiences the opportunity to witness these spectacular ‘live’ broadcasts on the big screen, in full digital projection, at various of their cinemas across South Africa.

The Met was the first arts company to experiment as an alternative content provider, starting on a modest scale in 2006. Since then, its programme has grown every season with more than 19 million tickets sold to date, and its 10th anniversary season being celebrated this year.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg.

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