Puccini: Turandot | Birgit Nilsson, Cecchele, Tucci - Prêtre (RAI 1969)

Composer: Giacomo Antonio Puccini
Librettist: Giuseppe Adami, and Renato Simoni
Premiere: 25 April 1926, Milan (La Scala)
Language: Italian
Subtitles: None
Turandot Synopsis: https://www.opera-arias.com/puccini/turandot/synopsis/

Cast & Characters:
La principessa Turandot - Birgit Nilsson
Calaf - Gianfranco Cecchele
Liu - Gabriella Tucci
Ping - Claudio Strudthoff
Pang - Mario Ferrara
Pong - Carlo Franzini
Timur - Boris Carmeli
L'imperatore Altoum - Luigi Pontiggia
Un mandarino - Franco Bordoni
Prima ancella - Giannella Borelli
Seconda Ancella - Fernanda Cadoni

RAI Torino Orchestra & Chorus
Conductor: Georges Prêtre
Recorded in 1969

The opera is set in China and follows the Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold-hearted Princess Turandot. In order to win her hand in marriage, a suitor must solve three riddles, with a wrong answer resulting in his execution. Calaf passes the test, but Turandot refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to guess his name before dawn the next day, he will accept death.

Puccini died in 1924, and his opera was left unfinished. The music was completed by Franco Alfano and premiered on 25 April 1926, almost a year and a half after Puccini's death. Turandot premiered at the La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy, on 25 April 1926, a year and five months after Puccini's death. Rosa Raisa played Turandot. Tenors Miguel Fleta and Franco Lo Giudice alternated in the role of Prince Calaf, with Fleta singing the role on opening night. It was conducted by Arturo Toscanini. In the middle of Act III, the orchestra stopped playing. Toscanini turned to the audience and announced, "Qui finisce l'opera, perché a questo punto il maestro è morto" ("Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died"). The curtain was then lowered. The second and subsequent performances of the 1926 La Scala season included Alfano's ending.