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{{Short description|1926 opera by Giacomo Puccini}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox opera
| name              = Turandot
| composer          = [[Giacomo Puccini]]
| image             = Poster Turandot.jpg
| image_upright     =
| alt               =
| caption           = The cover of the score printed by Ricordi
| librettist        = {{plainlist|
* [[Giuseppe Adami]]
* [[Renato Simoni]]
}}
| based_on          = [[Carlo Gozzi]]'s play ''[[Turandot (Gozzi)|Turandot]]''
| language          = Italian
| premiere_date     = {{Start date|1926|04|25|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[La Scala|Teatro alla Scala]], Milan
}}
[[File:1926-Turandot-frontespizio.jpg|thumb|Libretto, 1926]]
'''''Turandot''''' ({{IPA|it|turanˈdo}}<ref name="pronunciation1">{{cite web|first=Neil|last=Kurtzman|title=Turandot Without the T|website=Medicine-Opera.com|url=http://medicine-opera.com/2008/12/turandot-without-the-t/|date=2008-12-22|access-date=2019-07-07}}</ref><ref name="pronunciation2">{{Cite journal|first = Patrick Vincent|last = Casali|date= July 1997|title = The Pronunciation of Turandot: Puccini's Last Enigma| journal = [[The Opera Quarterly]]|volume = 13|issue = 4|pages = 77–91|issn = 0736-0053|doi=10.1093/oq/13.4.77}}</ref> {{IPA|it|turanˈdɔt|label=or||it-Turandot.ogg}};<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.dizionario.rai.it/poplemma.aspx?lid=8883|title= Turandot|work= Dizionario italiano multimediale e multilingue d'ortografia e di pronunzia|editor= Bruno Migliorini|language= it|access-date= 5 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.dipionline.it/dizionario/ricerca?lemma=Turandot|title=Turandot|work=Dizionario di pronuncia italiana online|author= Luciano Canepari|language= it|access-date= 5 August 2019}}</ref> <small>see [[#Origin and pronunciation of the name|below]]</small>) is an [[opera]] in three acts by [[Giacomo Puccini]] to a [[libretto]] in Italian by [[Giuseppe Adami]] and [[Renato Simoni]]. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it premiered in 1926 after the music was posthumously completed by [[Franco Alfano]].

The opera is set in [[China]] and follows the Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold-hearted Princess Turandot.<ref>[https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=bgsu1273466517&disposition=inline ''Turandot's Homecoming: Seeking the Authentic Princess of China in a New Contest of Riddles''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192233/https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=bgsu1273466517&disposition=inline|date=4 March 2016}}, [[Master of Music]] thesis by Ying-Wei Tiffany Sung, Graduate College of [[Bowling Green State University]], August 2010</ref> 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.

==Origin and pronunciation of the name==

The title of the opera is derived from the Persian term ''Turandokht'' ({{lang|fa|توراندخت|rtl=yes}}, 'daughter of [[Turan]]'), a name frequently given to Central Asian princesses in Persian poetry. [[Turan]] is a region of Central Asia that was once part of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]]. It also applies to the Mongols who were emperors of China during the Yuan dynasty. ''Dokht'' is a [[Contraction (grammar)|contraction]] of ''dokhtar'' (daughter); the ''kh'' and ''t'' are both pronounced.<ref>{{cite news|title=To pronounce the 't' or not when it comes to Turando|date=2016-06-17|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/column-8-to-pronounce-the-t-or-not-when-it-comes-to-turandot-20160617-gplgvq.html|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=2019-07-07}}</ref>

Italian pronunciation dictionaries recommend pronouncing the final ''t''. However, according to Puccini scholar Patrick Vincent Casali, the ''t'' is silent in the name of the opera and of its title character. Soprano [[Rosa Raisa]], who created the title role, said that neither Puccini nor [[Arturo Toscanini]], who conducted the first performances, ever pronounced the final ''t''. Similarly, prominent Turandot [[Eva Turner]] did not pronounce the final ''t'' in television interviews.<ref name="pronunciation1"/><ref>{{YouTube|y7w2wVBkufs|Rosa Raisa, Puccini's first Princess Turandot – How to pronounce the name 'Turandot'}}</ref> Casali maintains that the musical setting of many of Calaf's utterances of the name makes sounding the final ''t'' all but impossible.<ref name="pronunciation2"/>

==Composition history==
The beginnings of ''Turandot'' can likely be found in ''[[Haft Peykar]]'', a twelfth-century epic by the Persian poet [[Nizami Ganjavi|Nizami]]. One of the stories in ''Haft Peykar'' features a Russian princess.<ref name="Nizami2015">{{cite book |author=Nizami |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v0CFCgAAQBAJ |title=Haft Paykar: A Medieval Persian Romance |date=21 August 2015 |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-62466-446-5 |page=xviii}}</ref> In 1722, [[François Pétis de la Croix]] published his ''[[Les Mille et un jours]]'' (The Thousand and One Days), a collection of stories which were purportedly taken from Middle Eastern folklore and mythologies.<ref name=":0">[http://www.theopera101.com/operas/turandot/ based on a story by the Persian poet Nizami] Retrieved 23 November 2016.</ref> One of these stories, believed to be inspired by Nizami, features a cold princess named Turandokht.<ref>[[Karl Gustav Vollmoeller]], [http://manybooks.net/titles/vollmollerk2673026730-8.html ''Turandot, Princess of China: A Chinoiserie in Three Acts''], 1913, online at manybooks.net. Retrieved 8 July 2011</ref> However, it has been speculated that many of de la Croix's 'translated' stories were his own original creations, with no actual basis in Middle Eastern cultures.<ref name=":0" /> De la Croix's story was adapted into a play, [[Turandot (Gozzi)|''Turandot'']], by the Italian playwright [[Carlo Gozzi]] in 1762, which was then adapted by [[Friedrich Schiller]] into another play in 1801. It was Schiller's version that inspired Puccini to write the opera.<ref name="schiller">{{Gutenberg|no=6505|name=Turandot, Prinzessin von China by Friedrich Schiller|bullet=none}}. ''Freely translated from Schiller by Sabilla Novello:'' {{Gutenberg|no=26553|name=Turandot: The Chinese Sphinx by Friedrich Schiller|bullet=none}}.</ref>

[[File:MaiNessun.jpg|thumbnail|450px|"In questa reggia" – quotation from the reduced score]]
Puccini began working on ''Turandot'' in March 1920 after meeting with librettists [[Giuseppe Adami]] and [[Renato Simoni]]. In his impatience, he began composition in January 1921, before Adami and Simoni had produced the text for the libretto.{{sfn|Ashbrook|Powers|1991|p=65}} As with ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', Puccini strove for a semblance of authenticity by using music from the region, even commissioning a set of thirteen custom-made gongs.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/arts/music/09vanhyning.html "Howard Van Hyning, Percussionist and Gong Enthusiast, Dies at 74"] by [[Margalit Fox]], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 8 November 2010. Accessed 9 November 2010.</ref> Baron Edoardo Fassini-Camossi, the former Italian diplomat to China, gave Puccini a music box that played 4 Chinese melodies.<ref name=CUtz2021>{{cite book|title=Musical Composition in the Context of Globalization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KXEjEAAAQBAJ&dq=Fassini+Camossi+turandot&pg=PA198|author=Christian Utz|date=2021| publisher=transcript Verlag |isbn = 9783839450956}}</ref> Puccini incorporated three of these melodies into his opera, the most memorable of which is the folk melody "[[Mo Li Hua|Mò Li Hūa (茉莉花)]]" ('Jasmine Flower').<ref>{{cite web |author=W. Anthony Sheppard |date=17 June 2012 |title=Music Box as Muse to Puccini's 'Butterfly' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/arts/music/puccini-opera-echoes-a-music-box-at-the-morris-museum.html |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> "Mò Li Hūa" serves as a [[leitmotif]] for Princess Turandot's splendor.<ref name=SludgeWiki>{{cite book|last1=Ashbrook |first1=William |last2= Harold |first2= Powers |date= 23 April 1991 |title=Puccini's Turandot: The End of the Great Tradition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pV6YDwAAQBAJ |publisher= Princeton University Press |isbn= 9780691027128}}</ref> In total, eight of the themes from ''Turandot'' appear to be based on traditional Chinese music and anthems.{{sfn|Ashbrook|Powers|1991|loc=Chapter 4}}

By March 1924, Puccini had completed the opera up to the final duet. However, he was dissatisfied with the text of the final duet, and did not continue until 8 October, when he chose Adami's fourth version of the duet text. Two days later, he was diagnosed with throat [[cancer]]. Puccini seems to have had some inkling of the seriousness of his condition: before leaving for [[Brussels]] for treatment, he visited Arturo Toscanini and begged him, "Don't let my Turandot die."{{sfn|Carner|1958|p=403}} He died of a heart attack on 29 November 1924.{{sfn|Carner|1958|p=417}}

===Completion of the score after Puccini's death===
When Puccini died, the first two of the three acts were fully composed, including the orchestration. Puccini had composed and fully orchestrated Act Three up until Liù's death and funeral cortege. In the sense of finished music, this was the last music composed by Puccini.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fisher|first=Burton D.|title=Puccini Companion: The Glorious Dozen: Turandot|year=2007|publisher=Opera Journeys Publishing|page=24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ashbrook|first=William|title=The Operas of Puccini|url=https://archive.org/details/operasofpuccini0000ashb|url-access=registration|year=1985|publisher=Cornell University Press by arrangement with Oxford University Press|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/operasofpuccini0000ashb/page/224 224]|isbn=9780801493096}}</ref> He left behind 36 pages of sketches on 23 sheets for the end of ''Turandot''. Some sketches were in the form of "piano-vocal" or "short score", including vocal lines with "two to four staves of accompaniment with occasional notes on orchestration."<ref name="Ashbrook and Powers3">{{harvnb|Ashbrook|Powers|1991|p=224}}</ref> These sketches provided music for some, but not all, of the final portion of the libretto.

Puccini left instructions that [[Riccardo Zandonai]] should finish the opera. Puccini's son Tonio objected, and eventually [[Franco Alfano]] was chosen to flesh out the sketches after [[Vincenzo Tommasini]] (who had completed [[Arrigo Boito|Boito]]'s ''[[Nerone (Boito)|Nerone]]'' after the composer's death) and [[Pietro Mascagni]] were rejected. Puccini's publisher Tito Ricordi II decided on Alfano because his opera ''[[Sakùntala|La leggenda di Sakùntala]]'' resembled ''Turandot'' in its setting and heavy orchestration.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.concertoperaboston.org/turandot2009.html| title = ''Turandot'': Concert Opera Boston}}</ref> Alfano provided a first version of the ending with a few passages of his own, and even a few sentences added to the libretto, which was not considered complete even by Puccini. After the severe criticisms by Ricordi and the conductor Arturo Toscanini, he was forced to write a second, strictly censored version that followed Puccini's sketches more closely, to the point where he did not set some of Adami's text to music because Puccini had not indicated how he wanted it to sound. Ricordi's real concern was not the quality of Alfano's work; he wanted the end of ''Turandot'' to sound as if it had been written by Puccini. Of this version, about three minutes were cut for performance by Toscanini, and it is this shortened version that is usually performed today.

==Performance history==

''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.<ref name="Ashbrook and Powers1">{{harvnb|Ashbrook|Powers|1991|pp=126–32}}</ref> A reporter for ''La Stampa'' recorded the words slightly differently: "Qui finisce l'opera, rimasta incompiuta per la morte del povero Puccini" ("Here the opera ends, left incomplete by the death of the poor Puccini").<ref name="La Stampa pre-premiere">{{cite news|title = La prima rappresentazione di ''Turandot''|newspaper = La Stampa|date = 25 April 1926}}</ref> Others have reported that Toscanini said "Here, the Maestro laid down his pen."<ref>{{Cite book|title = At the Opera: Tales of the Great Operas|last1 = Fiery|first1 = Ann|publisher = [[Chronicle Books]]|year = 2003|isbn = 0-8118-2774-7|location = San Francisco|page = [https://archive.org/details/atoperatalesofgr0000fier/page/218 218]|last2 = Malone|first2 = Peter|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/atoperatalesofgr0000fier/page/218}}</ref> A newspaper report from 1926 states that Puccini asked Toscanini to stop the opera performance in the middle of Act III.<ref name="La Stampa pre-premiere" /> The second and subsequent performances of the 1926 La Scala season included Alfano's ending.<ref>{{cite news|title=La seconda di Turandot, il finale del M. Alfano|newspaper=[[La Stampa]]|date=28 April 1926}}</ref>

Soon after its premiere in Milan, ''Turandot'' spread to other cities.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!City
!Location
!Date of first performance
!Starring
!Conductor
!Other information
|-
|Milan, Italy
|[[La Scala]]
|25 April 1926
|[[Rosa Raisa]] as Turandot
[[Miguel Fleta]] and [[Franco Lo Giudice]] as Calaf (alternating)
|Arturo Toscanini (premiere, and possibly second and third performances)
[[Ettore Panizza]] (all performances after Toscanini's departure)
|Sources disagree on which conductor led the second and third performances. Toscanini biographer Harvey Sachs claims that Toscanini conducted the second and third performances before withdrawing due to nervous exhaustion.{{sfn|Sachs|1993|p=179}} Other authors believe that Toscanini left after the first performance.<ref name="Ashbrook and Powers2">{{harvnb|Ashbrook|Powers|1991|pp=143, 154}}</ref>
|-
|Rome, Italy<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2013-06-07 |title=Turandot |url=https://giacomopuccini.wordpress.com/compositions/turandot/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=Pucciniblog |language=en}}</ref>
|[[Teatro dell'Opera di Roma|Teatro Costanzi]]
|29 April 1926
|[[Bianca Scacciati]] as Turandot<ref>{{cite book |last=Ashbrook |first=William |date=1991 |title= Puccini's Turandot : the end of the great tradition |publisher= Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press |page=156 |isbn= 978-0691027128}}</ref>
[[Francesco Merli]] as Calaf
|[[Edoardo Vitale]]<ref>{{cite news |date=1 May 1926 |title=Turandot di Puccini al Costanzi |work=La Tribuna (Rome)| page=3}}</ref>
|
|-
|Buenos Aires, Argentina<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070607033021/http://www.operas-colon.com.ar/cgi%2Dbin/wwwisis/%5Bin%3Daaa.in%5D?base%3DTurandot+and+base%3Dinter#91;in=aaa.in%5D?base=Turandot%20and%20base=inter ''Turandot'' performance history"], [[Teatro Colón]]</ref>
|[[Teatro Colón]]
|23 June 1926
|[[Claudia Muzio]] as Turandot
[[Giacomo Lauri-Volpi|Giacomo Lauri Volpi]] as Calaf
|[[Gino Marinuzzi]]
|
|-
|Dresden, Germany<ref name=":1" />
|[[Semperoper|Staatsoper Dresden]]
|6 September 1926<ref>Loewenberg's Annals of Opera gives the Dresden date as 4 July 1926, but German sources give the correct date of 6 September 1926. The delay was caused by the late arrival of Briiggemann's translation at Ricordi for its inclusion in the Italian-German vocal scores.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ashbrook |first=William |date=1991 |title= Puccini's Turandot : the end of the great tradition |publisher= Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press |page=182 |isbn= 978-0691027128}}</ref>
|[[Anne Roselle]] as Turandot
[[Richard Tauber]] as Calaf
|[[Fritz Busch]]
|Performed in German
|-
|Venice, Italy<ref name=":1" />
|[[La Fenice]]
|9 September 1926
|María Llácer-Casali as Turandot
Antonio Bagnariol as Calaf
|[[Gaetano Bavagnoli]]<ref>{{cite news |date=September 1926 |title=Turandot di Puccini alla Fenice |work=Gazzetta di Venezia |page=51}}</ref>
|-
|Vienna, Austria<ref name=":1" />
|[[Vienna State Opera]]
|14 October 1926
|[[Lotte Lehmann]] as Turandot
[[Leo Slezak]] as Calaf
|[[Franz Schalk]]
|
|-
|Berlin, Germany<ref name=":1" />
|[[Berlin State Opera|Staatsoper Berlin]]
|8 November 1926
|[[Mafalda Salvatini]] as Turandot
Carl Martin Öhman as Calaf<ref>Bie, Oscar. ''Letter from Berlin.'' Apollo: A Journal of the Arts, January–June 1927: Vol 5, Apollo Press Ltd. London. p.38</ref>
|[[Bruno Walter]]<ref>{{cite news |date=9 November 1930 |title=Turandot di Puccini a Berlino |work=La Tribuna (Rome)| page=3}}</ref>
|
|-
|New York City, United States<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-10 |title=GP at the Met: Turandot |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/gp-met-turandot-turandot-historical-context/5074/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |publisher=PBS |language=en-US}}</ref>
|[[Metropolitan Opera]]
|16 November 1926
|[[Maria Jeritza]] as Turandot
Giacomo Lauri Volpi as Calaf
|[[Tullio Serafin]]
|
|-
|Brussels, Belgium<ref name=":1" />
|[[La Monnaie]]
|17 December 1926
|Jane Bonavia as Turandot
Victor Verteneuil as Calaf<ref>{{Cite web |title=Victor Verteneuil |url=http://www.historicaltenors.net/belgian/verteneuil.html |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=historicaltenors.net}}</ref>
|Corneille de Thoran
|Performed in French.
|-
|Trieste, Italy<ref>{{cite news |date=23 December 1926 |title=La prima di Turandot, al Teatro Verdi |work=Il Piccolo di Trieste |page=4}}</ref>
|[[Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi|Teatro Verdi]]
|22 December 1926
|{{ill|Linda Barla Ricci|de}} as Turandot
Pedro Mirassou as Calaf
|[[Gennaro Papi]]
|
|-
|Naples, Italy<ref name=":1" />
|[[Teatro di San Carlo]]
|17 January 1927
|Bianca Scacciati as Turandot<ref>{{cite news |date=18 January 1927 |title=Il trionfo di Turandot ai San Carlo |work=La Tribuna (Rome)| page=3}}</ref>
Antonio Bagnariol as Calaf
|Edoardo Vitale
|
|-
|Parma, Italy<ref name=":1" />
|[[Teatro Regio (Parma)|Teatro Regio]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lacasadellamusica.it/cronologia/1926-1927_carnevale.htm |title=Cronologia del Teatro Regio di Parma (1829-2001), Stagione lirica Carnevale 1926 – 1927, Turandot |date=2017 |website=lacasadellamusica.it | access-date=2 Feb 2025}}</ref>
|12 February 1927
|Elena Barrigar as Turandot
[[Franco Lo Giudice]] as Calaf
|Giuseppe Podestà
|
|-
|Bern, Switzerland
|[[Bern Theatre]]<ref>{{cite journal |date=31 Mar 1927 |title=Bern has Swiss Premiere of Turandot |journal= Musical Courier |volume=94 |issue=13 |page=6}}</ref>
|13 February 1927
|Maria Nezádal as Turandot
Peter Baust as Calaf
|Dr. Albert Nef
|
|-
|Turin, Italy<ref name=":1" />
|[[Teatro Regio (Turin)|Teatro Regio]]<ref>{{cite news |date=13 March 1927 |title=Teatri - Al Regio - La prima di Turandot |work=La Stampa |page=4}}</ref>
|17 March 1927
|Linda Barla Ricci as Turandot
Gennaro Barra-Caracciolo as Calaf
|[[Gino Marinuzzi]]
|
|-
|Baltimore, Maryland, USA<ref>{{cite web |url= https://archives.metopera.org/MetOperaSearch/record.jsp?dockey=0365123 |title=Turandot - Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland, Mon, April 18 |date=2023 |website= metopera.org}}</ref>
|[[Lyric Baltimore|Lyric Theatre Baltimore]]
|18 April 1927
|[[Florence Easton]] as Turandot
[[Edward Johnson (tenor)|Edward Johnson]] as Calaf
|Tullio Serafin
|
|-
|Florence, Italy<ref>{{cite news |date=19 April 1927 |title=Turandot al Politeama Fiorentino |work=La Tribuna (Rome)| page=3}}</ref>
|[[Teatro Comunale, Florence|Politeama Fiorentino]]
|23 April 1927
|
|
|
|-
|Atlanta, Georgia, USA<ref>{{cite web |url= https://archives.metopera.org/MetOperaSearch/record.jsp?dockey=0365132 |title=Turandot - Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia, Wed, April 27, 1927 |date=2023 |website= metopera.org}}</ref>
|[[Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta)|Municipal Auditorium]]
|27 April 1927
|Florence Easton as Turandot
Edward Johnson as Calaf
|Tullio Serafin
|
|-
|Cleveland, Ohio, USA<ref>{{cite web |url= https://archives.metopera.org/MetOperaSearch/record.jsp?dockey=0365139 |title=Turandot - Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio, Tue, May 3, 1927 |date=2023 |website= metopera.org}}</ref>
|[[Public Auditorium]]
|3 May 1927
|Florence Easton as Turandot
[[Armand Tokatyan]] as Calaf
|Tullio Serafin
|
|-
|London, United Kingdom<ref name=":1" />
|[[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]]
|8 June 1927<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Blom |first=Eric |date=2015-12-15 |title=Puccini's Turandot: the first performance in England, reviewed in June 1927 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/from-the-archive-blog/2015/dec/15/puccini-turandot-covent-garden-1927-review |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref>
|Bianca Scacciati as Turandot<ref name=":2" />
Francesco Merli as Calaf<ref name=":2" />
|Vincenzo Bellezza<ref name=":2" />
|
|-
|San Francisco, United States<ref name=":1" />
|San Francisco Opera
|19 September 1927
|Anne Roselle as Turandot
Armand Tokatyan as Calaf<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=San Francisco Opera Performance Archive |url=http://archive.sfopera.com/qry3webcastlist.asp?x_OperaID=176&z_OperaID==,, |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=archive.sfopera.com}}</ref>
|Gaetano Merola<ref name=":3" />
|
|-
|Bologna, Italy<ref name=":1" />
|Teatro Comunale di Bologna<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Giacomo Vaghi |url=https://www.opera-arias.com/singers/giacomo-vaghi/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=Opera-Arias.com |language=en}}</ref>
|29 October 1927<ref name=":4" />
|Linda Barla-Ricci as Turandot
Antonio Melandri as Calaf
|Gino Marinuzzi<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.tcbo.it/il-teatro/archivio-storico/1924-1933/ |title= 1927, October 29, Turandot, Opera |date=2017 |website= tcbo.it (Teatro Comunale di Bologna) }}</ref>
|
|-
|Budapest, Hungary<ref>{{cite web |url= https://digitar.opera.hu/alkotas/turandot/9051/ |title=Turandot |access-date=2025-02-09 |website= digitar.opera.hu}}</ref>
|[[Hungarian State Opera House|Operaház]]
|14 November 1927
|{{ill|Vilma Tihanyi|hu}} as Turandot
{{ill|Székelyhidy Ferenc|hu}} as Calaf
|Nándor Rékai
|
|-
|Baku, Azerbaijan<br>(then [[Transcaucasian SFSR]], Soviet Union)<ref name=":1" />
|[[Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater|Baku Opera]]
|March 1928
|
|Alexander Klibson
|Performed in Russian(?).
|-
|Paris, France<ref name=":1" />
|Paris Opera
|29 March 1928
|Maryse Beaujon as Turandot
[[Georges Thill]] as Calaf
|[[Philippe Gaubert]]
|
|-
|Verona, Italy<ref>{{cite book |last1=Segond |first1=André |title=George Thill ou l'age d' or de l'opera |date=1980 |publisher= Editions Jacques-Marie Laffont et Associés a Lyon |page=244}}</ref>
|[[Verona Arena]]
|28 July 1928
|Anne Roselle as Turandot
George Thill as Calaf
|Alfredo Padovani
|
|-
|Australia<ref name=":1" />
|[[Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne|His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne]]<ref>{{cite news |date=11 June 1928 |title=Turandot, Puccini's Last Opera |work= The Sydney Morning Herald | page=15}}</ref>
|9 June 1928
|[[Giannina Arangi-Lombardi]] as Turandot
Francesco Merli as Calaf
|Gaetano Bavagnoli
|
|-
|Kyiv, Ukraine<br>(then [[Ukrainian SSR]], Soviet Union)<ref name=":1" />
|[[Kyiv Opera]]
|September 1928
|
|[[Aleksander Orlov]]
|Performed in Ukrainian.
|-
|Barcelona, Spain<ref>{{cite news |date=10 Feb 1929 |title=Lettere dalla Spagna - La Prima di Turandot in Espagna |work=L'Illustrazione Italiana |page=214 }}</ref> 
|[[Gran Teatre del Liceu]]
|30 December 1928
|[[Iva Pacetti]] as Turandot
{{ill|Antonio Melandri|it}} as Calaf
|Alfredo Padovani
|
|-
| Belgrade 
|[[National Theatre in Belgrade|National Theatre]]<ref>{{cite news |date=28 June 1930 |title=La Prima di Turandot a Belgrado |work=La Patria del Friuli}}</ref>
|28 June 1930
|
|[[Lovro von Matačić]]
|
|-
|Moscow, Russia<br>(then [[Russian SFSR]], Soviet Union)<ref name=":1" />
|[[Bolshoi Theatre]]
|12 December 1931
|Kseniya Derzhinskaya as Turandot
Boris Evlakhov as Calaf
|[[Lev Steinberg]]
|Performed in Russian, translated by [[Pavel Antokolsky]].  39 performances until 1934
|}
For many years, the government of the People's Republic of China forbade performance of ''Turandot'' because they said it portrayed China and the Chinese unfavorably.<ref>[http://www.operacarolina.org/assets/pdf/season_brochure.pdf "Banned in China"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513113631/http://www.operacarolina.org/assets/pdf/season_brochure.pdf |date=13 May 2008 }}, operacarolina.org</ref><ref>[http://www.princeton.edu/~amoravcs/library/turandot.doc "Banned in China because officials believed it portrays the country negatively"], princeton.edu</ref> Instead of a single nationwide decree against it, any attempts to produce it were not approved.<ref name="Kensmith" /> In the late 1990s they relented, and in September 1998 the opera was performed for eight nights as ''[[Turandot at the Forbidden City]]'', complete with opulent sets and soldiers from the [[People's Liberation Army]] as extras. It was an international collaboration, with director [[Zhang Yimou]] as [[choreographer]] and [[Zubin Mehta]] as conductor. The singing roles saw [[Giovanna Casolla]], Audrey Stottler, and [[Sharon Sweet]] as Princess Turandot; [[Sergej Larin]] and [[Lando Bartolini]] as Calaf; and [[Barbara Frittoli]], [[Cristina Gallardo-Domâs]], and [[Barbara Hendricks]] as Liù.

The aria "[[Nessun dorma]]" has long been a staple of operatic recitals. [[Luciano Pavarotti]] popularized the piece beyond the opera world in the 1990s with his performance of it for the [[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990 World Cup]], which received a global audience.<ref name="FIFA">{{cite book |title=The Music Industry Handbook |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |page=219}}</ref> Both Pavarotti and [[Plácido Domingo]] released singles of the aria, with Pavarotti's reaching number 2 in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|title=Official Charts (UK) – Luciano Pavarotti|website=[[OfficialCharts.com]]|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/26280/luciano-pavarotti/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Official Charts (UK) – Placido Domingo|website=[[OfficialCharts.com]]|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/3438/placido-domingo/}}</ref> [[The Three Tenors]] performed the aria at three subsequent [[List of FIFA World Cup finals|World Cup Finals]], in 1994 in Los Angeles, 1998 in Paris, and 2002 in Yokohama.<ref name="FIFA" /> Many [[crossover music|crossover]] and pop artists have performed and recorded it and the aria has been used in the soundtracks of numerous films.<ref name="Dalley">Dalley, Jan (6 November 2015). [https://next.ft.com/content/c799f976-814d-11e5-8095-ed1a37d1e096 "The Life of a Song: 'Nessun Dorma'"]. ''[[Financial Times]]''. Retrieved 10 May 2016.</ref> ''Turandot'' is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire and it appears as number 17 on the [[Operabase]] list of the most-performed operas worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |title=Opera Statistics |url=http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en#opera |access-date=19 August 2013 |publisher=[[Operabase]]}}</ref>

===Alfano's and other versions===
The debate over which version of the ending is better is still open.<ref name="Ashbrook and Powers2" /> Alfano's original ending to the opera was first recorded (as part of an album with [[Josephine Barstow]] singing final scenes of several operas) by [[John Mauceri]] and [[Scottish Opera]] (with Josephine Barstow and [[Lando Bartolini]] as soloists) for Decca Records in 1990 to great acclaim.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Scottish Opera Chorus|first1=Barstow|title=Josephine Barstow: Opera Finales|date=1 January 1990|publisher=Decca CD DDD 0289 430 2032 9 DH|url=http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4302032|access-date=20 May 2015|archive-date=20 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520202657/http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4302032|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Josephine Barstow sings Opera Finales|url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/josephine-barstow-sings-opera-finales?pmtx=biggest-savings|work=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]|access-date=20 May 2015}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2022|reason=Doeasn't mention Tosca, or Lando Bartolini.}} However, it may have been staged in Germany in the early years, since Ricordi had commissioned a German translation of the text and a number of scores were printed in Germany with the full final scene included.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Alfano's second ending has been further redacted as well: Turandot's aria "Del primo pianto" was performed at the premiere but cut from the first complete recording;{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}} it was eventually restored to most performances of the opera.

From 1976 to 1988, the American composer [[Janet Maguire]], convinced that the whole ending is coded in the sketches left by Puccini, composed a new ending,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Maguire|first1=Janet|title=Puccini's Version of the Duet and Final Scene of ''Turandot''|journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|date=1990|volume=74| issue = 3|pages=319–359|jstor=741936|doi=10.1093/mq/74.3.319}}</ref> but this has never been performed.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Burton|first1=Deborah|title=The Puccini Code|journal=Rivista di Analisi e Teoria Musicale|date=2013|volume=19| issue = 2|pages=7–32}}</ref> In 2001, [[Luciano Berio]] made a new completion sanctioned by [[Casa Ricordi]] and the Puccini estate, using Puccini's sketches but also expanding the musical language. It was subsequently performed in the Canary Islands and Amsterdam conducted by [[Riccardo Chailly]], Los Angeles conducted by [[Kent Nagano]], at the [[Salzburg Festival]] conducted by [[Valery Gergiev]] in August 2002. However, its reception was mixed.<ref name = "NYT1">[[Anthony Tommasini|Tommasini, Anthony]] (22 August 2002). [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/22/arts/critic-s-notebook-updating-turandot-berio-style.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm "Critic's Notebook; Updating ''Turandot'', Berio Style"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved 30 November 2012.</ref><ref>[[James Inverne|Inverne, James]] (18 August 2002). [http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,338591,00.html "Beginning of the End"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. Retrieved 30 November 2012.{{subscription required}}</ref>

In late 2007, Chinese composer [[Hao Weiya]] made another completion before the opening of [[National Centre for the Performing Arts (China)|National Centre for the Performing Arts]], also resulting in a mixed reception.<ref>{{cite news|first=Louisa|last=Lim|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90037060|title=Chinese Composer Gives 'Turandot' a Fresh Finale|publisher=[[NPR]]|date=2008-04-29|accessdate=2022-03-25}}</ref>

In 2022, Deborah Burton "realized" a finale to Turandot that utilized several of Puccini's autograph sketches that had not been previously studied.  Based on decades of analyzing Puccini's compositional style, her finale has not yet been produced, although some possible venues are in the offing.  A description of her finale can be found in her article, "Puccini's Last Act: Finishing ''Turandot''" (The Opera Journal, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp.&nbsp;1–60) and in her book ''The Finales of Turandot:  Puccini's Last Act'' (Routledge, 2025).

In 2024, [[Washington National Opera]] premiered a newly commissioned ending by composer [[Christopher Tin]] and librettist [[Susan Soon He Stanton]] to very positive reviews.<ref>{{cite news|first=|last=LA Opera|url=https://www.laopera.org/discover/la-opera-content/new-blog-post-77/|title=The Many Endings of "Turandot"|publisher=[[LA Opera]]|date=2024-05-23|accessdate=2024-05-29}}</ref> Michael Andor Brodeur of [[The Washington Post]] called the production 'refreshing' and declared "Even without the new ending — and Tin’s splendid musical additions, which draw sensibly from Puccini’s score while applying an entirely new emotional finish — [[Francesca Zambello]]’s "Turandot" crackles with fresh energy".<ref name=":5">{{cite news|first=Michael Andor|last=Brodeur|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2024/05/13/washington-national-opera-turandot-review/|title=Washington National Opera's new 'Turandot' gets a refreshing finale|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=2024-05-13|accessdate=2024-05-29}}</ref> Heidi Waleson of [[The Wall Street Journal]] wrote that the new ending "fits the opera neatly. Its sound and attitude, while contemporary, grow organically from Puccini’s original, like a savvy modern addition on a historic building."<ref>{{cite news|first=Heidi|last=Waleson|url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/theater/turandot-and-shall-we-gather-at-the-river-reviews-washington-national-opera-park-avenue-armory-1f95a467|title='Turandot' and 'Shall We Gather at the River' Reviews: Classics in New Contexts|publisher=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=2024-05-22|accessdate=2024-05-29}}</ref>

In 2024, [[Opera Delaware]] premiered a newly commissioned completion by composer [[Derrick Wang]], which was praised as "adept," "respectful," and "seamless."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Obenreder |first=Gail |date=2024-05-21 |title=OperaDelaware presents Puccini's Turandot |url=https://www.broadstreetreview.com/reviews/operadelaware-presents-puccinis-turandot |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Broad Street Review |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Silverman |first=Mike |date=2024-05-08 |title=Washington Opera offers new ending to Puccini's final work |url=https://apnews.com/article/opera-turandot-new-ending-24432174560d555b39a858114135f260 |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5" />

[[Daniela Kerck]] made another version for the [[Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden]] in 2024, using exclusively music by Puccini, the unfinished opera followed by his 1905 ''[[Requiem (Puccini)|Requiem]]'' antiphone. She identified Calaf with Puccini, and other characters with people from his life, beginning and ending the story in Puccini's library with a grand piano. In this version, when Liú has taken her life and the music by Puccini ends, the Puccini on stage receives a kiss of death from Turandot and dies.<ref name="Franke">{{cite web
| last = Franke
| first = Christiane
| url = https://magazin.klassik.com/konzerte/reviews.cfm?task=review&PID=8178
| title = Der Todeskuss
| website = magazin.klassik.com
| date = April 2024
| language = de
| access-date = 24 June 2024
| quote = In diesen Parallelwelten agieren die Protagonisten in Doppelrollen, Turandot/die Ehefrau Puccinis,[...] Wenn Liù tot auf der Bühne [...] erhebt sich Liù zu neuem Leben.
}}</ref>

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, premier cast}}
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast, 25 April 1926<br>Conductor: [[Arturo Toscanini]]
|-
|Princess Turandot
|[[dramatic soprano]]
|[[Rosa Raisa]]
|-
|The Emperor Altoum, ''her father''
|[[tenor]]
|[[Francesco Dominici (tenor)|Francesco Dominici]]
|-
|Timur, ''the deposed King of Tartary''
|[[bass (voice type)|bass]]
|Carlo Walter
|-
|The Unknown Prince (Calaf), ''his son''
|tenor
|[[Miguel Fleta]]
|-
|Liù,{{refn|group=note|Note that the [[grave accent]] (`) in the name ''Liù'' is not a [[pinyin]] tone mark indicating a falling tone, but an Italian diacritic that marks [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]], indicating that the word is pronounced {{IPA|it|ˈlju|}} or {{IPA|it|liˈu|}} rather than {{IPA|it|ˈliːu|}}. If the name is analyzed as an authentic Mandarin-language name, it is likely to be one of several characters pronounced ''Liu'' (with different tones), commonly used as surnames: {{lang|zh|[[Wikt:刘|刘]]}} ''Liú'' {{IPA|cmn|ljôu|}} or {{lang|zh|[[Wikt:柳|柳]]}} ''Liǔ'' {{IPA|cmn|ljòu|}}. [http://newnrch.digital.ntu.edu.tw/archive/DOFiles/pdf/00/02/25/55/cca100007-mu-bk0207-0001-t.pdf A translation of the song guide] hosted by the [[National Taiwan University]] refers to her as {{lang|zh|柳兒}} ''Liǔ ér''.}} ''a slave girl''
|[[soprano]]
|[[Maria Zamboni]]
|-
|Ping, ''Lord Chancellor''
|[[baritone]]
|[[Giacomo Rimini]]
|-
|Pang, ''Majordomo''
|tenor
|[[Emilio Venturini]]
|-
|Pong, ''Head chef of the Imperial Kitchen''
|tenor
|[[Giuseppe Nessi]]
|-
|A Mandarin
|baritone
|{{Interlanguage link|Aristide Baracchi|it}}
|-
|The Prince of Persia
|tenor
|Not named in the original program
|-
|The Executioner (Pu-Tin-Pao)
|silent
|Not named in the original program
|-
| colspan="3"|''Imperial guards, the executioner's men, boys, priests, mandarins, dignitaries, eight wise men,<br>Turandot's handmaids, soldiers, standard-bearers, musicians, ghosts of suitors, crowd''
|}

==Synopsis==
:Place: [[Beijing|Peking]], China
:Time: Legendary times

===Act 1===
[[File:Anna May Wong as Turandot, by Carl Van Vechten, 1937.jpg|thumb|[[Anna May Wong]] as Princess Turandot in a 1937 dramatic adaptation of Gozzi's ''Turandot'' at the Westport Country Playhouse]]
''In front of the imperial palace''

In China, the beautiful Princess Turandot will marry only a suitor who can answer three riddles. A [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|Mandarin]] announces the law of the land (Aria – "Popolo di Pechino!" – "People of Peking!"). The Prince of Persia has failed to answer the three riddles, and he is to be beheaded at the next rising moon. As the crowd surges towards the gates of the palace, the imperial guards brutally repulse them, causing a blind old man to be knocked to the ground. The old man's slave-girl, Liù, cries out for help. A young man hears her cry and recognizes that the old man is his long-lost father, Timur, the deposed king of [[Tartary]]. The young Prince of Tartary is overjoyed at seeing Timur alive, but still urges Timur not to speak his name because he is afraid that the Chinese rulers, who have conquered Tartary, may kill or harm them. Timur then tells his son that, of all his servants, only Liù has remained faithful to him. When the Prince asks her why, she tells him that once, long ago in the palace, the Prince had smiled at her (Trio with chorus – The crowd, Liù, Prince of Tartary, Timur: "Indietro, cani!" – "Back, dogs!").

The moon rises, and the crowd's cries for blood dissolve into silence. The doomed Prince of Persia, who is on his way to be executed, is led before the crowd. The young Prince is so handsome and kind that the crowd and the Prince of Tartary decide that they want Turandot to act compassionately, and they beg Turandot to appear and spare his life (Aria – The crowd, Prince of Tartary: "O giovinetto!" – "O youth!"). She then appears, and with a single imperious gesture, orders the execution to continue. The Prince of Tartary, who has never seen Turandot before, falls immediately in love with her, and joyfully cries out Turandot's name three times, foreshadowing the riddles to come. Then the Prince of Persia cries out Turandot's name one final time, mirroring the Prince of Tartary. The crowd, horrified, screams out one final time and the Prince of Persia is beheaded.

[[File:Alessandro Granda, Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, Non Piangere Liu, Columbia D1644.flac|thumb|233px|"Non piangere, Liù", {{ill|Alejandro Granda Relayza|es}}]]
The Prince of Tartary is dazzled by Turandot's beauty. He is about to rush towards the gong and to strike it three times – the symbolic gesture of whoever wishes to attempt to solve the riddles so that he can marry Turandot – when the ministers Ping, Pang, and Pong appear. They urge him cynically not to lose his head for Turandot and instead to go back to his own country ("Fermo, che fai?"  "Stop, what are you doing?"). Timur urges his son to desist, and Liù, who is secretly in love with the Prince, pleads with him not to attempt to solve the riddles ("[[Signore, ascolta!]]" – "Lord, hear!"). Liù's words touch the Prince's heart. He begs Liù to make Timur's exile more bearable by not abandoning Timur if the Prince fails to answer the riddles ("[[Non piangere, Liù]]" – "Do not cry, Liù"). The three ministers, Timur, and Liù then try one last time to stop the Prince ("Ah! Per l'ultima volta!" – "Ah! For the last time!") from attempting to answer the riddles, but he refuses to heed their advice.

He calls Turandot's name three times, and each time Liù, Timur, and the ministers reply, "Death!" and the crowd declares, "We're already digging your grave!" Rushing to the gong that hangs in front of the palace, the Prince strikes it three times, declaring himself to be a suitor. From the palace balcony, Turandot accepts his challenge, as Ping, Pang, and Pong laugh at the Prince's foolishness.

===Act 2===
[[File:Il vasto piazzale della Reggia, bozzetto di Galileo Chini per Turandot (1924) - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON000206.jpg|thumb|''Il vasto piazzale della Reggia'', set design for Turandot act 2 scene 2 (1924)]]
''Scene 1: A pavilion in the imperial palace. Before sunrise''

Ping, Pang, and Pong lament their place as ministers, poring over palace documents and presiding over endless rituals. They prepare themselves for either a wedding or a funeral (Trio – Ping, Pang, Pong: "Ola, Pang!"). Ping suddenly longs for his country house in [[Henan|Honan]], with its small lake surrounded by bamboo. Pong remembers his grove of forests near Tsiang, and Pang recalls his gardens near Kiu. The three share their fond memories of their lives away from the palace (Trio – Ping, Pang, Pong: "Ho una casa nell'Honan" – "I have a house in Honan"). They turn their thoughts back to how they have been accompanying young princes to their deaths. As the palace trumpet sounds, the ministers ready themselves for another spectacle as they await the entrance of their Emperor.

''Scene 2: The courtyard of the palace. Sunrise''
[[File:Bianca Scacciati Et Francesco Merli, Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, In Questa Reggia, Columbia D1570.ogg|thumb|233px|"In questa reggia", [[Bianca Scacciati]] and [[Francesco Merli]]]]
The Emperor Altoum, father of Turandot, sits on his grand throne in his palace. Weary of having to judge his isolated daughter's sport, he urges the Prince to withdraw his challenge, but the Prince refuses (Aria – Altoum, the Prince: "Un giuramento atroce" – "An atrocious oath"). Turandot enters and explains ("[[In questa reggia]]" – "In this palace") that her ancestress of millennia past, Princess Lo-u-Ling, reigned over her kingdom "in silence and joy, resisting the harsh domination of men" until she was raped and murdered by an invading foreign prince. Turandot claims that Lo-u-Ling now lives in her and, out of revenge, Turandot has sworn never to let any man wed her. She warns the Prince to withdraw but again he refuses. The Princess presents her first riddle: "Straniero, ascolta!" – "What is born each night and dies each dawn?" The Prince correctly replies, ''Speranza'' – "Hope". The Princess, unnerved, presents her second riddle ("Guizza al pari di fiamma" – "What flickers red and warm like a flame, but is not fire?") The Prince thinks for a moment before replying, ''Sangue'' – "Blood". Turandot is shaken. The crowd cheers the Prince, provoking Turandot's anger. She presents her third riddle ("Gelo che ti da foco" – "What is ice which gives you fire and which your fire freezes still more?"). He proclaims, "It is Turandot! Turandot!"

The crowd cheers for the triumphant Prince. Turandot throws herself at her father's feet and pleads with him not to leave her to the Prince's mercy. The Emperor insists that an oath is sacred and that it is Turandot's duty to wed the Prince (Duet – Turandot, Altoum, the Prince: "Figlio del cielo"). She cries out in despair, "Will you take me by force? (''Mi porterai con la forza?'') The Prince stops her, saying that he has a riddle for her: "You do not know my name. Tell me my name before sunrise, and at dawn, I will die." Turandot accepts. The Emperor then declares that he hopes that he will be able to call the Prince his son when the sun next rises.

===Act 3===
''Scene 1: The palace gardens. Night''

In the distance, heralds call out Turandot's command: "Cosi comanda Turandot" – "This night, none shall sleep in Peking! The penalty for all will be death if the Prince's name is not discovered by morning." The Prince waits for dawn and anticipates his victory: "[[Nessun dorma]]" – "Let no one sleep!"

Ping, Pong, and Pang appear and offer the Prince women and riches if he will only give up Turandot ("Tu che guardi le stelle"), but he refuses. A group of soldiers then drag in Timur and Liù. They have been seen speaking to the Prince, so they must know his name. Turandot enters and orders Timur and Liù to speak. The Prince feigns ignorance, saying they know nothing. But when the guards begin to treat Timur harshly, Liù declares that she alone knows the Prince's name, but she will not reveal it.

Ping demands the Prince's name, and when Liù refuses to say it, she is tortured. Turandot is clearly taken aback by Liù's resolve and asks Liù who or what gave her such a strong resolve. Liù answers, "Princess, love!" ("Principessa, amore!"). Turandot demands that Ping tear the Prince's name from Liù, and Ping orders Liù to be tortured even more. Liù counters Turandot ("[[Tu che di gel sei cinta]]" – "You who are encircled by ice"), saying that Turandot too will learn the exquisite joy of being guided by caring and compassionate love.{{refn|group=note|The words of that aria were actually written by Puccini. Waiting for Adami and Simoni to deliver the next part of the libretto, he wrote the words and when they read them, they decided that they could not improve them.<ref>Colin Kendell, ''The Complete Puccini'', Amberley Publishing 2012{{page needed|date=January 2021}}</ref>}} Having spoken, Liù seizes a dagger from a soldier's belt and stabs herself. As she staggers towards the Prince and falls dead, the crowd screams for her to speak the Prince's name. Since Timur is blind, he must be told about Liù's death, and he cries out in anguish.

When Timur warns that the gods will be offended by Liù's death, the crowd becomes subdued, very afraid and ashamed. The grieving Timur and the crowd follow Liù's body as it is carried away. Everybody departs, leaving the Prince and Turandot alone. He reproaches Turandot for her cruelty (Duet – The Prince, Turandot: "Principessa di morte" – "Princess of death"), then takes her in his arms and kisses her in spite of her resistance.{{refn|group=note|Here Puccini's work ends. The remainder of the music for the premiere was completed by Franco Alfano.}}

The Prince tries to persuade Turandot to love him. At first, she feels disgusted, but after he kisses her, she feels herself becoming more ardently desiring to be held and compassionately loved by him. She admits that ever since she met the Prince, she realized she both hated and loved him. She tells him to ask for nothing more and to leave, taking his mystery with him. The Prince, however, then reveals his name: "Calaf, son of Timur – Calaf, figlio di Timur", thereby placing his life in Turandot's hands. She can now destroy him if she wants (Duet – Turandot, Calaf: "Del primo pianto").

''Scene 2: The courtyard of the palace. Dawn''

Turandot and Calaf approach the Emperor's throne. She declares that she knows the Prince's name: ("Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore!") – "It is ... love!" The crowd sings and acclaims the two lovers ("O sole! Vita! Eternità").

==Critical response==
While long recognised as the most tonally adventurous of Puccini's operas,<ref>Jonathan Christian Petty and Marshall Tuttle, [http://www.bpmonline.org.uk/bpm4-turandot.html "Tonal Psychology in Puccini's ''Turandot''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121100912/http://www.bpmonline.org.uk/bpm4-turandot.html |date=21 November 2008 }}, Center for Korean Studies, University of California, Berkeley and Langston University, 2001</ref> ''Turandot'' has also been considered a flawed masterpiece, and some critics have been hostile toward it. [[Joseph Kerman]] states that "Nobody would deny that dramatic potential can be found in this tale. Puccini, however, did not find it; his music does nothing to rationalize the legend or illuminate the characters."{{sfn|Kerman|1988|p=206}} Kerman also wrote that while ''Turandot'' is more "suave" musically than Puccini's earlier opera, ''[[Tosca]]'', "dramatically it is a good deal more depraved."{{sfn|Kerman|1988|p=205}} However, [[Sir Thomas Beecham]] once remarked that anything that Joseph Kerman said about Puccini "can safely be ignored".{{sfn|Carner|1958|p=460}}

Some of this criticism is possibly due to the standard Alfano ending (Alfano II), in which Liù's death is followed almost immediately by Calaf's "rough wooing" of Turandot, and the "bombastic" end to the opera. A later attempt at completing the opera was made, with the co-operation of the publishers, Ricordi, in 2002 by [[Luciano Berio]]. The Berio version is considered to overcome some of these criticisms, but critics such as Michael Tanner have failed to be wholly convinced by the new ending, noting that the criticism by the Puccini advocate [[Julian Budden]] still applies: "Nothing in the text of the final duet suggests that Calaf's love for Turandot amounts to anything more than a physical obsession: nor can the ingenuities of Simoni and Adami's text for 'Del primo pianto' convince us that the Princess's submission is any less hormonal."<ref>Tanner, Michael, [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090628114501/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200303/ai_n9232503 "Hollow swan-song"], ''The Spectator'', 23 March 2003.</ref>

[[William Ashbrook|Ashbrook]] and Powers consider it was an awareness of this problem – an inadequate buildup for Turandot's change of heart, combined with an overly successful treatment of the secondary character (Liù) – which contributed to Puccini's inability to complete the opera.<ref name="Ashbrook and Powers2" /> Another alternative ending, written by Chinese composer Hao Wei Ya, has Calaf pursue Turandot but kiss her tenderly, not forcefully; and the lines beginning "Del primo pianto" (Of the first tears) are expanded into an aria where Turandot tells Calaf more fully about her change of heart.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90037060 Chinese Composer Gives ''Turandot'' a Fresh Finale], NPR's ''All Things Considered'', 29 April 2008.</ref><ref name=Kensmith>[http://www.opera.co.uk/view-review.php?reviewID=136 A Princess Comes Home: Ken Smith explores how ''Turandot'' became China's national opera]. ''Opera'' magazine, December 2012.</ref><ref>"She (the princess) pledges to thwart any attempts of suitors because of an ancestor's abduction by a prince and subsequent death. She is not born cruel and is finally conquered by love. I will try to make Turandot more understandable and arouse the sympathy of Chinese audiences for her." Hao Wei Ya, [http://www.china.org.cn/english/LivinginChina/243209.htm A Princess Re-Born], ''China Daily'' 19 February 2008.</ref>

Concerning the compelling believability of the self-sacrificial Liù character in contrast to the two mythic protagonists, biographers note echoes in Puccini's own life. He had had a servant named Doria, whom his wife accused of sexual relations with Puccini. The accusations escalated until Doria killed herself. In ''Turandot'', Puccini lavished his attention on the familiar sufferings of Liù, as he had on his many previous suffering heroines. However, in the opinion of [[M. Owen Lee|Father Owen Lee]], Puccini was out of his element when it came to resolving the tale of his two allegorical protagonists. Finding himself completely outside his normal genre of ''[[verismo]]'', he was incapable of completely grasping and resolving the necessary elements of the [[mythology|mythic]], unable to "feel his way into the new, forbidding areas the myth opened up to him"<ref>[[M. Owen Lee|Lee, Father Owen]]. [http://archive.operainfo.org/intermissions/intermissionFeaturesDetails.cgi?id=27&language=1&int_page_id=236 "''Turandot'': Father Owen Lee Discusses Puccini's ''Turandot''."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609175020/http://archive.operainfo.org/intermissions/intermissionFeaturesDetails.cgi?id=27&language=1&int_page_id=236 |date=9 June 2011 }} [[Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts|Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast]] Intermission Feature, 4 March 1961.</ref> – and thus unable to finish the opera in the two years before his unexpected death.

==Instrumentation==
''Turandot'' is scored for three [[Western concert flute|flutes]] (the third doubling [[piccolo]]); two [[oboe]]s; one [[cor anglais]]; two [[clarinet]]s in [[soprano clarinet|B-flat]]; one [[bass clarinet]] in B-flat, two [[bassoon]]s; one [[contrabassoon]]; two onstage [[alto saxophone]]s in E-flat; four [[French horn]]s in F; three [[trumpet]]s in F; three [[tenor trombone]]s; one [[cimbasso|contrabass trombone]]; six onstage trumpets in B-flat, three onstage trombones; and one onstage [[bass trombone]]; a percussion section with [[timpani]], [[cymbal]]s, [[gong]], one [[Triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]], one [[snare drum]], one [[bass drum]], one [[Gong|tam-tam]], one [[glockenspiel]], one [[xylophone]], one [[Xylophone|bass xylophone]], [[tubular bells]], and tuned Chinese gongs;<ref>Blades, James, [https://books.google.com/books?id=a8V3Z6j2ExEC&dq=gongs+chinese+turandot&pg=PA344 ''Percussion instruments and their history''], Bold Strummer, 1992, p. 344. {{ISBN|0-933224-61-3}}</ref> one onstage [[Woodblock (instrument)|wood block]]; one onstage large [[gong]]; one [[celesta]]; one [[Organ (music)|pipe organ]]; two [[harp]]s; and [[string section|strings]].

==Recordings==
{{Main|Turandot discography{{!}}''Turandot'' discography}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note|colwidth=45em}}

== References ==

'''Citations'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Sources'''
* {{cite book|last1=Ashbrook|first1=William|author-link1=William Ashbrook|last2=Powers|first2=Harold|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=srFzafqtePIC&q=Panizza|title=Puccini's 'Turandot': the end of the great tradition|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1991|isbn=0-691-02712-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Carner|first=Mosco|author-link=Mosco Carner|title=Puccini: a Critical Biography|publisher=Gerald Duckworth|year=1958}}
* {{cite book|last=Kerman|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Kerman|title=Opera as Drama|orig-year=1956|location=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press|year=1988|edition=new and revised|isbn=9780520062740}}
* {{cite book|last=Sachs|first=Harvey|author-link=Harvey Sachs|title=Toscanini|publisher=Robson|year=1993|isbn=0-86051-858-2}}

==Further reading==
* [[Kii-Ming Lo|Lo, Kii-Ming]], ''»Turandot« auf der Opernbühne'', Frankfurt/Bern/New York (Peter Lang) 1996, {{ISBN|3-631-42578-3}}.
* [[Jürgen Maehder|Maehder, Jürgen]] and [[Sylvano Bussotti]], ''Turandot'', Pisa: Giardini, 1983.
* Maehder, Jürgen, "Puccini's ''Turandot'' – A Fragment", in Nicholas John (ed.), ''Turandot'', London: John Calder / New York: Riverrun, 1984, pp.&nbsp;35–53.
* Maehder, Jürgen, "La trasformazione interrotta della principessa. Studi sul contributo di [[Franco Alfano]] alla partitura di ''Turandot''", in Jürgen Maehder (ed.), ''Esotismo e colore locale nell'opera di Puccini'', Pisa (Giardini) 1985, pp.&nbsp;143–170.
* Maehder, Jürgen, "Studi sul carattere di frammento della ''Turandot'' di Giacomo Puccini", in ''Quaderni Pucciniani'' 2/1985, Milano: Istituto di Studi Pucciniani, 1986, pp.&nbsp;79–163.
* Maehder, Jürgen, ''Turandot-Studien'', [[Deutsche Oper Berlin]], ''Beiträge zum Musiktheater VI'', season 1986/87, pp.&nbsp;157–187.
* Maehder, Jürgen (with [[Kii-Ming Lo|Lo, Kii-Ming]]), ''Puccini's Turandot'' – Tong hua, xi ju, ge ju, Taipei (Gao Tan Publishing) 1998, 287 pp.

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Turandot (Puccini)}}
* {{IMSLP|work=Turandot (Puccini, Giacomo)|cname=''Turandot''}}
* [https://2024turandot.com/ Italy, Arena Di Verona Festival's First Abroad perform "Turandot" in Seoul] 2024turandot.com
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRnSNpfwN1c A New Ending for Turandot - Christopher Tin and Susan Soon He Stanton | Washington National Opera] -- [[Kennedy Center]]

{{Giacomo Puccini}}
{{Turandot}}
{{Arturo Toscanini}}
{{Franco Alfano}}
{{Luciano Berio}}
{{Portal bar|Italy|Opera}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Operas by Giacomo Puccini]]
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