The ageless Gregory Kunde leads an impressive Turandot in Hamburg – Seen and Heard Worldwide

Germany Puccini, Turandot: Soloists, Refrain, Further and Kids’s refrain of Hamburg State Opera, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg / Daniele Callegari (conductor). Hamburg State Opera, 31.3.2024. (DM-D)

Manufacturing:
Director – Yona Kim
Stage design – Christian Schmitt
Costume design – Falk Bauer
Lighting design – Reinhard Traub
Video – Philip Bussmann
Motion coach – Ramses Sigl
Dramaturgy – Angela Beuerle
Refrain director – Eberhard Friedrich
Director of ‘Alsterspatzen’ (childrens’ and youth refrain) – Luiz de Godoy

Forged:
Turandot – Ewa Plonka
Calaf – Gregory Kunde
Liù – Andriana Gonzáles
Timur – Liang Li
Ping – Fredric Mörth
Pang – Daniel Kluge
Pong – Florian Panzieri
Altoum – Jürgen Sacher
A Mandarin – Chao Deng

As part of Hamburg State Opera’s 2024 Italian Opera Weeks, this efficiency was a revival of the unique 2022 manufacturing directed by Yona Kim. Daniele Callegari changed Evelino Pidò as conductor. The manufacturing emphasised the darkish points of the plot, leaving little room for hope or a cheerful ending. Turandot is traumatised by her historical past to the extent that she is unable to genuinely obtain and reside love. She accepts Calaf formally, however finally stabs him to dying. The staging supported this bleak interpretation of the plot.

Christian Schmidt created a black house with a set of steps on the centre, main as much as a raised degree obscured by a black curtain. That curtain opened and closed in several patterns to disclose completely different areas behind, exactly outlined by way of peak and width, displaying elements of the imperial palace. These areas had been clearly identifiable as to their operate, akin to state assembly room or non-public bed room. All of them gave the concept of huge areas, of vacancy, of supposed grandeur – and so they all finally lacked coronary heart, ambiance, magnificence. The courtiers – the individuals – had been wearing bland black, with a nod to the Chinese language setting. Some faces had been made as much as counsel Beijing Opera, one thing generically ‘Chinese language’. The video created by Philip Bussmann conveyed photographs of Chinese language individuals and army. The textual content of the riddles and the solutions had been lowered from the fly tower on white banners.

The plot of Turandot is very emotional and melodramatic even for Italian opera, and lots of conductors have been tempted to emphasize, on the expense of subtlety, the ‘massive sounds’ of the music Puccini composed to mirror these tumultuous feelings. Daniele Callegari averted any temptation in the direction of pompousness, providing as a substitute a really differentiated studying of the rating. He drew a significant movement of ups and downs from the orchestra, which made the music rhythmically participating. His help of the singers was admirable. It was a difficult opera for the singers and never solely of the key roles, as a result of regardless of all nuances of the music that Callegari was in a position to emphasise, a lot of the singing wanted to be loud. Right here it was at the least loud with – and never towards – the orchestra.

Ewa Plonka introduced her expertise developed within the Italian repertory to the function, somewhat than making Turandot an tour into the Italian style from a profession in any other case dominated by Wagner. Her singing was sturdy, properly in a position to experience above orchestra and refrain, and by no means shrill or on edge: somewhat, the voice sounded rounded, heat and well-balanced throughout registers and quantity. Her vibrato was clear and nice.

Gregory Kunde sang Calaf. It’s troublesome to consider that he’s 70 years outdated. There have been completely no indicators of vocal put on and tear. The voice sounded persistently contemporary all through. His expertise and successes with heavier roles akin to Otello or Peter Grimes labored in his favour. Kunde clearly loved each second of his function, notably relishing his capability to maintain essential notes for a very long time, not solely the excessive B in ‘Nessun dorma’.

Adriana González was a transferring Liù, her voice mellow, with reliable quantity and excitingly undulating, lingering high notes. The smaller roles had been forged with greater than comPetent singers, and Kim introduced acceptable directorial consideration to them as properly. Chao Deng was convincing because the Mandarin, Jürgen Sacher performed the Emperor Altoum as an outdated man; nonetheless, it was by means of his sturdy voice that he demonstrated his character’s remaining authority. Liang Li gave a strong portrayal of Timur along with his sonorous, well-focused bass.

In some productions, the three ministers, Ping, Pang and Pong come throughout as clowns; right here, they had been allowed a sure degree of individuality. As a gaggle, they developed from mildly humorous characters to the principle perPetrators of Liù’s merciless torture (so their humour appeared sinister with hindsight). Fredric Mörth (Ping), Daniel Kluge (Pang) and Florian Panzieri (Pong) made the a lot of the music composed for his or her characters. The viewers greeted the efficiency with properly justified standing ovations.

Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe