SF Opera: Turandot
Sun Jul 10 2005 12:25 MDT #Last night was our first opera on the season, Puccini's Turandot. It was fabulous. Possibly the best opera I've seen to date - the performances where amazing.
Turandot is one Puccini's asian flavored opera's. Set in the Imperial Palace of China, at some date far far back into mythological times, it feels more modern and fun due to the Asian touches, while still have the classic operatic touches, the insane plots most notably .
This staging was excellent. I was particularly impressed with the performances of Serena Farnocchia as Lui and Dongwon Shin as Calaf. The stage design was interesting, with lots of transparency - almost every thing was clear or translucent. Lots of light play. The costuming was way over the top, but that merely made it feel at home with the plot. And it certainly helped the comic characters - a mere nodding of the head became funny, in those wacky hats.
On the whole a great evening !