Turandot

We went for the opening night of Puccini's Turandot at Esplanade yesterday night.

Organized by the Singapore Lyric Opera, Turandot is Puccini's final opera. It is a story about a cold and merciless Chinese princess Turandot who demands princes who seeks her hand to answer three questions. If they cannot answer these three questions, they will be beheaded at moonrise. And from the singings, looks like all the princes far and wide were beheaded, none succeeded in answering correctly.

Then came the exiled Prince Calaf, who was smittened by Turandot's beauty and despite the many pleads from the various characters, adamantly took on Turandot's challenge.

The three riddles were (summarized):
"What likes in the morning but is reborn at night?"
"What is hot but not a flame and grows cold when dead?"
"What ice can set you on fire?"

Prince Calaf was able to answer these with 'hope', 'blood' and 'Turandot'. Of course, the ending was those "happily ever after".

I know, some of you are going to exclaim, "Jean, opera?". Just like Desmond's reaction when I told him during lunch time. The thing is, I do attend operas if I have the time and I know abit about the story. I am always so amazed how the casts are able to stretch their voices and sing in various languages that is not their mother tongue. Of course, the entertaining value of operas can be lesser than musicals. But still, its quite worth it to attend especially there is a good story.

I really enjoyed this opera especailly after the our "pleasant" experience in Paris last year where we and two other frenchmen fell asleep in the box because it was so boring and we didn't understand a single word they were singing. Turandot is sung in italian and luckily, there were English and Chinese subtitles available. So everyone is able to understand what the sopranos and tenors are singing. For those going, I find that the Chinese subtitles were better written & concise than the English ones.

Those who are thinking of going to go and watch this, do go! This opera had a few familiar tunes that the audience can identify with, like Moli-hua and Nessun Dorma. And also, the last act had a very touching and emotional scene where the characters sang beautifully. So much so, I cried like a baby. There are definitely some entertainment values where you'll cry and laugh. Do go!

Our next "arty-farty" item to attend is "The Rainbow Fish". We'll be bringing Ning to watch this play and I hope she will be able to understand the story! Will update you on this then!