![]() In no other version is the contrast between international modernism and italianità more deeply felt, yet never has it been more essential to the overall listening experience. Within this context, the polarity of “Turandot” asserts itself as a leitmotif which Pappano triumphantly puts to the test. It has since emerged that, rather than being an endpoint, its score marks the permeation of modernist elements into the musical vocabulary of early 20th century Italy, with Puccini harking to the tonal innovations of Schönberg, Stravinsky, and Strauss, to name but a few. ![]() In line with a musicological rethinking of the Puccini scores, “Turandot” has, in recent years, emancipated itself from the reactionary lens under which critics have begrudgingly eyed its fortunes, tied-to quote the title of a 1991 study-to the “end of the great tradition” of Italian opera. The latter even extends to the decision of recording the finale without its customary cuts, giving unprecedented opportunity for the emotional reversal of the Princess to unfold. Within this context, I have seldom heard an orchestra express more dynamism than in the present release: It plays a constitutive part not only in the narrative progression but also in Pappano’s interest in situating “Turandot” on the brink of modernity, between change and tradition, and with marked concern for psychological development. It is, in short, a dauntless vision he sets forth, as it relentlessly exploits the gap between the ceremonial of the court scenes and the intimacy as much as the conflicts of the individual characters involved. One may therefore ask how Sir Antonio Pappano’s newest release for Warner Classics fits in. Add to this Franco Ghione and, in excerpts, Barbirolli’s visceral “Turandots” from the pre-war period, and nearly all aspects of Puccini’s swan song – from the ritualistic and bombastic to the sweet and lyric – are covered in a discography that now spans some 90-odd years. There is no shortage of good and, sometimes, exceptional recordings of Puccini’s “Turandot,” with aficionados generally swaying between Molinari-Pradelli’s studio release (with Franco Corelli and Birgit Nilsson) and Mehta’s landmark take from 1972.
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