The Palau de les Arts is preparing for the premiere of Puccini's Turandot
08.06.2014
· Soprano Lise Lindstrom, one of the leading Turandot interpreters of the moment, makes her debut in Valencia
· Jorge de León (Calaf), Jessica Nuccio (Liù) and Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Timur) complete the main cast
The Palau de les Arts announces that tickets are sold out. Only 5% of the reserved capacity is available for purchase on the day of each performance.
Valencia. The Palau de les Arts is preparing for the premiere of Puccini's Turandot . Zubin Mehta is finalizing rehearsals for the second opera he is conducting at the 7th Festival del Mediterrani, which premieres on June 11.
Puccini's Turandot was the production with which Zubin Mehta inaugurated the first Festival del Mediterrani in 2007 and one of the first Valencian titles released on DVD and Blu-ray. The production directed by Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige is the most rented production in the history of the Palau de les Arts. Requested by the opera houses of A Coruña, Monte Carlo, and Guangzhou (China), the Turandot production featured Lorin Maazel as musical director for its revival in the 2008-2009 season.
The staging by the Palme d'Or winner for Farewell My Concubine draws on elements of traditional Chinese opera to explore the duality between reality and unreality. Liu King's realistic set design is inspired by the Forbidden City, which housed the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties, while the costumes, made entirely in China by Chen Tong Xun, provide a contrasting element with colorful and exaggerated features. As Kaige pointed out, this serves to highlight that Turandot 's story is a character-driven drama set against a real backdrop.
American soprano Lise Lindstrom embodies the cruel Princess Turandot. Lindstrom, making her debut at the Valencian opera house, is considered one of the leading interpreters of this role, having sung in prestigious theaters such as London's Covent Garden, Milan's La Scala, the Bavarian State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as well as at festivals like the Verona Arena.
Jorge de León returns to the Palau de les Arts, where he has enjoyed resounding success with his performances in La Bruja , La vida breve , Cavalleria rusticana , Aida , Tosca , Carmen , Le Cid , and Il trovatore . The tenor from Tenerife will sing the role of Calaf, which he previously performed under the baton of Zubin Mehta in Florence in 2012.
Italian soprano Jessica Nuccio, acclaimed for her Violetta in La Traviata at the opening of the 2013-2014 season at the Palau de les Arts opera house in Valencia, sings the role of Liù. The leading quartet is completed by bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk, who sings the role of Timur, a role he previously performed in the premiere of this production in 2007 with Zubin Mehta and in its revival in 2009 with Lorin Maazel. The Ukrainian singer has also participated in the Palau de les Arts productions of Wagner's Parsifal (2008) and Mozart's Don Giovanni (2012).
The cast of Turandot is completed with the voices of Ventseslav Anastasov (Mandarino), Javier Agulló (Altoum / Il Principe di Persia), Pablo García López (Pong), the singers of the Center de Perfection Plácido Domingo Germán Olvera (Ping) and Valentino Buzza (Pang) and the singers of the Cor de la Generalitat Carmen Avivar and Jacqueline Squarcia (Due ancelle).
In addition to the premiere on the 11th, the Main Hall of the Calatrava building will host two more performances of Puccini's Turandot on June 13th and 15th. The Palau de les Arts has announced that tickets for all performances are sold out. Only 5% of the seats reserved for the day of each performance are available for purchase.
