TURANDOT
Friday | Apr. 27, 2018 | 7:30 p.m.
Sunday | Apr. 29, 2018 | 2:30 p.m.
Giacomo Puccini’s final and most musically adventuresome opera – a sweeping saga of pride, passion, and devotion. This is the legendary fable of a princess whose beauty men literally died to woo. Turandot – which includes the world’s most loved tenor aria, “Nessun dorma” – is a distinctive finale to Puccini’s career, combining and perfecting all that was great in his art.
Set in ancient China, the Princess Turandot requires any suitor to answer correctly three riddles. If he fails, he must die. Calaf sees Turandot and falls immediately and deeply in love, accepting the challenge of the three riddles. He answers each riddle correctly, infuriating the princess.
Calaf tells her that if she discovers his name before daylight, he will accept death instead of marrying her. Only Liù, the slave girl who secretly loves Calaf, knows his true name. The slave girl Liù sings of her love in “Tu che di gel sei cinta”, and Turandot tortures her more until finally Liù takes her own life to save Calaf.
Calaf reproaches Turandot for her cruelty, then with a passionate kiss reveals his name to the princess, placing his fate in her hands. When Turandot is asked for Calaf’s name, chastened by emotion, she replies simply: “Love.”
Sung in Italian with English titles projected above the stage.
Alexandra Loutsion
Turandot
http://www.alexandraloutsion.com/
In her Oklahoma debut and bringing “impressive power and dimension…handling the high notes and vocal challenges with aplomb,” is Alexandra Loutsion. Her passionate performances and vocal versatility make her a “singer to watch,” according to the Washington Post.
Jessica Rose Cambio
Liù
http://www.jessicarosecambio.com/
Jessica Rose Cambio joins the production in her Oklahoma and role debut as Liù. Cambio is thrilling audiences with her “full-bodied Italianate soprano” (WQXR, New York) and her “impressive development of the pathos of the character throughout… [She is a] powerful soprano in top form vocally and largely at ease at the top and with something spicy in the colour of the voice that makes her genuinely exciting to hear,” according to Bachtrack, London.
Jonathan Burton
Calaf
http://jburtontenor.com/
Jonathan Burton, as Calaf, first wowed the Tulsa audience as Don José in Carmen in 2014. With debuts at Welsh National Opera and Florida Grand Opera, Burton comes to Tulsa with “a wonderfully shaded ‘Nessun dorma’ that included brilliant top notes,” Opera News said. It is a rare find, states the Herald Tribune, to have “a tenor who can add substantial flesh to Calaf as well as deliver the most famous aria of Italian grand opera.”
Wayne Tigges
Ping
http://www.waynetigges.co/
Lauded by the Chicago Sun Times for his “rich, dark, and beautiful legato,” Tigges is equally at home doing roles that require vocal acrobats, (roles in Handel, Rossini Opera), and roles that require significantly more heft (Wagner, Strauss, Verdi). He has been involved in 7 world premieres, and has over 60 roles in his repertoire.
Julius Ahn
Pong
http://juliusahn.com/
This internationally acclaimed Korean-American tenor has been lauded as “brilliant” (Broadway World) and praised for his “golden-toned” voice (San Francisco Chronicle). Julius debuts with Tulsa Opera as Pong in Turandot.
Joseph Hu
Pong
http://www.josephhu.com/
Taiwanese-American Joseph Hu is one of America’s important character tenors, sought after for roles such as Goro in Madama Butterfly, both Pang and Pong in Turandot, and Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer.
James Lowe
Conductor
http://jameslowemusic.com/
A leading conductor of Opera and Musical Theater, Grammy nominated musician James Lowe will conduct Turandot at Tulsa Opera. He has appeared at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Glimmerglass Festival, as well as on Broadway.
Bernard Uzan
Stage Director
http://www.uzanartists.com/portfolio/bernard-uzan/
Bernard Uzan has dedicated his life to the development of the performing arts industry for the past 50 years. Last year, Mr. Uzan received a lifetime achievement award from the Giulio Gari Foundation and made an appearance on the Emmy Award winning Amazon show Mozart in the Jungle, for which he was named one of the “9 ‘Mozart in the Jungle’ Scene-Stealing Cameos” by WQXR.