Turandot

Spectacle is often a major selling point in the productions mounted by the Bregenz Festival, with its huge stage at the edge of Lake Constance (facing an arena that seats 7,000). In this 2015 staging by Marco Arturo Marelli of Puccini's final opera, however, the flamboyance is easily matched by an impressive musical performance (with the standard Alfano completion). Fire-juggling acrobats and ninja-like figures (as well as a commedia dell'arte clown) occasionally dart about the stage, which is dominated by a sweeping version of the Great Wall (partially rigged to collapse in an early scene). Among the supernumeraries, moreover, are men who look like terracotta figures, although outfitted in Mao-era suits. That anachronistic touch is characteristic: while most of the Chinese characters are dressed in traditional garb, the hero Calaf—who beats the imperious titular princess at the game of riddles that dooms most of her suitors—is made up to resemble the composer himself in his last days, and the three court ministers likewise wear early-20th-century suits, although sometimes with brightly colored robes. The visual splendor is nicely complemented by excellent vocalism, especially from Riccardo Massi (Calaf), Mlada Khudoley (Turandot), and Guanqun Yu (Liu), as well as strong playing by the Vienna Symphony under Paolo Carignani. Presented in DTS 5.0 and PCM stereo, this eye-catching, musically vivid rendition is recommended. (F. Swietek)