Westfield Symphony Orchestra – Puccini’s Turandot. September 28, 2006

PNC Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, Right Rear section (Free).

Conductor – David Wroe; New York City Opera, Monmouth Civic Chorus, and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company; Turandot – Othalie Graham, Calaf – Carlo Scibelli, Liu – Julianne Borg, Timur – Kevin Maynor.

Story: Prince Calaf, who just reunited with his father Timor and the slave girl Liu, is smitten with Turandot’s beauty and is determined to win her as his bride. To do so, Calaf has to solve three puzzles given by Turandot; failure to do so would mean death. After successfully solving the three puzzles (hope, blood, and Turandot being the answers), Calaf gives the princess a chance to get out of the marriage: she can kill him if she can guess his name by daybreak. Turandot tries to find out the Prince’s name by torturing Liu and Timor. Liu, who has been in love with Calaf since he showed her kindness a long time ago, commits suicide after claiming only she knows the name. The Prince further puts his fate in Turandot’s hands by telling her his name. Moved, Turandot announces the Prince’s name as “Love”.

We have lived in New Jersey since 1979, except for a couple of years in Hong Kong and a year in California, yet this was the first time we went to the Arts Center. I know it as a venue for rock concerts; evidently every now and then one can catch a classical music performance. The Center must seat up to 5,000 people, and it was about half-filled for tonight’s event.

My impression of the performance was amateurish, although the result was generally satisfactory. The orchestra and chorus each consisted of about 60 members, the soloists mostly sang the music, and some of the scenes were acted out by the dance troupe.

Sometimes I feel “Turandot” should be re-titled “Liu”. The slave girl certainly had more memorable arias, and Borg delivered the two well-known ones (in Acts 1 and 3) with feeling and precision. Her performance was by far the best among the soloists. The other two characters mostly shouted out their lines. Scibelli (as Calaf) every now and then struggled with his intonation. I felt a great sense of relief when he successfully sang “Nessun Dorma”: it had a wobbly beginning, but he managed the last notes well. Turandot’s arias were not easily hummed, which was a pity for the role.

The orchestra and chorus were generally quite good, despite confusion every now and then, and several miscues. Saying that the “world-class” orchestra “rivals any in the New York metropolitan area” (as in the program notes) was a bit much though. Indeed, I play the same music as (name your concert violinist).

It was quite interesting to have dancers perform some of the scenes. I find the ones depicting the riddles and Liu’s death particularly enjoyable. (Anne pointed out the riddles to me.) We were seated too far back to really appreciate the dancing, though.

Perhaps some of the loudness was attributable to the sound system, which was particularly problematic. It sounded tinny and the occurrences of loud feedback were too frequent for a professional venue like the Arts Center. The lack of projected English subtitles didn't help either. It was difficult to follow the story unless one was familiar with the opera.

A good opera performance captures one’s imagination. A whisper can hold the rapt attention of the audience. Unfortunately those moments were not to be found tonight.

In any case, Turandot is an opera easily enjoyed, with several great arias, a generally good storyline, and several passages based on popular Chinese folk melodies. I am still confused whether it is a comedy or a tragedy, though. Calaf’s success and happiness follow a bit too closely Liu’s self-sacrifice.

Perhaps my real feeling about tonight is the realization that it is often worth it to pay $100 or more for an opera performance in New York City.