Turandot

Giacomo Puccini’s last opera, Turandot, was never finished. Until his death, the composer never found a satisfying setting for the concluding love scene. Only after his friend, the Italian composer Franco Alfano, completed the finale we know today, basing it on Puccini’s sketches, did the opera have its world premiere in April 1926 at the Scala in Milan – and became a ground-breaking success. In Turandot, Puccini uses a previously unknown colour palette of East Asian melodies in the orchestral part and seeks to recreate the sounds of the ancient Chinese Empire. The director Philipp Stölzl, who in addition to operas and plays has directed feature films, television adverts and music videos, contributes a surreal visual language influenced by Dark Romanticism.