Turandot - Puccini (1988)

2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Stage spectacular, pity about the sound quality

A Customer from Surrey, England, 12th July, 2005

A wonderfully sumptuous stage production, well acted, well produced and well sung, and immensely enjoyable for that. Sadly, however, somewhat let down by the poor quality sound so common on such filmed staged versions of operas.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Metropolitan Imperial Majesty

SolarvanMan from from Thirsk, 12th March, 2005

This is a nice performance with some great singing from most of the cast, and a sumptuous staging with high production values.

That said it is not perfect, I thought Domingo was a bit off colour and showed signs of strain during the climaxes. He also took the lower note option at an important act 2 high point. The DVD transfer was a bit fuzzy and pretty dark. I do wish they would light taped performances more positively, even if that meant giving the audience reduced prices.

Still recommended overall.

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The best

A Customer from Peacehaven, 27th October, 2008

One of the best production (Zeferelli's) I have seen on DVD. Every thing was beautiful. The singing, costume and particularly the setting was wonderful and Placido Domingo gave it the magic touch. All opera lovers must see this one. What more can I say!

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None shall sleep during this performance.

A Customer from Doncaster, 27th July, 2008

A terrific performance of one of Puccini's greatest operas in a traditional and sumptuous staging by Zeffirelli at the New York Met. Placido Domingo was in great voice and the quality of the sound does it justice. The colours of the film have remained rich and the DVD gives an excellent operatic experience at home.

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highly recommended

A Customer from Midlands, 23rd November, 2007

Super production although Turandot in this production would not entice me to risk my life! We thought Liu's aria was particularly good.

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Not a nice story

gf from , 17th August, 2007

I find this a problematic opera. It has got a pretty horrible story with only one character, Liu, I can feel any empathy for. Puccini never managed to finish it and a pupil of his completed the final duet with Turandot and Calaf discovering love, which is rather dull. It may be that Puccini dying stopped him finishing the opera but a bit of me suspects it may have been impossible to write a gorgeous duet for two people who had just finished conniving, in their different ways, in the death of Liu. Having said all that Turandot has a lot of wonderful music. 'Nessun Dorma' is argueably the best and best known tenor aria in all opera. And there is plenty more. Liu has two very moving arias, Turandot has a glorious set piece in act 2 and there are three marvellous finales. I thought this production very spectacular with some excellent performances. My only reservation was that Liu's two arias moved me less than usual. One final point of interest. Hugues Cuenod, singing the emperor, must have been about 86 at the time of this performance, I noticed his 105th birthday reported this year. There can't often, if ever, have been someone that old singing a solo part in a large theatre.

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