"TURANDOT."

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18722, 19 June 1926, Page 11

"TURANDOT."

PUCCINI'S LAST WORK.

PRODUCED AT MILAN.

(FEOU OTJB OWS COBBESPOHDEST.) . . LONDON, May i, Before a crowded audience, which included Signor Mussolini, Puccini's posthumous opera "Turandot" was produced at the famous opera house at La Seals, is Milan. The Scala was resplendent and overcrowded with ' the elite of Italian society. Mr Douglas Fairbanks and Miss Mary Pickford were' in the audience, which, deeply impressed, seemed to be rather celebrating a rite.for a, national master than witnessing a theatrical performance.. Signor .Mussolini was present to do honour, to the memory of the composer, who was a personal ■ friend. . . The performance was intended as ft nual publio tribute to Puccini, and for this reason the final scene, finished by another hand, was omitted. It will be given m its entirety hereafter. , There were six recalls after the firs., and seven after the' second act—a distinctly favourable-verdict. Opera Described. The Milan correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph," in describing the opera, said: In the first and. second acta of 'Turandot" the composer is. nothing more than the- theatrical expert employing the ra sources of his art to emphasise » pictarcsque or dramatic, situation, to set tno rhvthm.for the action, and create local colour by the lavish use of percussion lnstruments, xylophones, gongs, and the like. In the tbiid act tha m°» typical Pnowm as.

serts himself, giving free rein to his lyrical genius. No doubt there will be some to maintain that when Puccini deliberately pkya second fiddle to the producer he is selling his birthright for a mess of pottage; but, of course, the modern tendency is all towards an elaboration of scenic effects, even at the expense of the music, once considered of primary importance. In. spite of his many and notable popular successes, Puccini was too modest a roan either to stand wholly aloof from a movement or to assume the leadership He conceived his mission to be that of the theatri cal composer, and never wrote a Fymphony, while in this very opera there aroi the most obvious indications that the mere act of writing and thinking symphonically wonld have given him greater strength and vision Ho opens the second act with a passage based on modern so-called tonality, and then scores it in such a way that ita daring will be unnoticed by the listener. His exofcio colour is gorgeous rather than intimate and penetrating, like Rimsky Korsakoff's, and he has not the felicity, of _ a Dvorak in assimilating and adding distinction to a native- melody.. ■Unforgettable Pictures. 1 It is inevitable that, musically, the most important act should be the third, in which the action ceases to be fantastic, and, becoming intensely human, has set free the composer's imagination, and this is the act which, I alas I Puccini never lived to complete. Until we reach .the night scene in the garden of the Imperial Palace the music follows the action aptly enough in a generally .decorative way. The scenic action, however, is one of great splendour nad magnificence. In the first act' outside the walls of Peking the chorus is the real protagonist, wayward and capricious as the crowd is ever supposed to be, clamouring for the blood of the unsuccessful aspirant to the.hand of Turandot applauding the executioner with his assistants as _ they sharpen the axe, and then, with a sudden revulsion of feeling, praying • that \nt £S"I Prmc !' *°, youne and farming, may be pardoned. The funeral procession winding its way slowly up the hill led by the white-clad youth, is one of the pictures we shall not readily forget. They than anywhere else, and it is -worth noting

what extraordinary care is bestowed'.•oa'vthechoice of the. right man for a • part which: may not in itself be of "any great importance. The super who i played' the role of the. executioner had the physique'of'a gladiator. As be stood motionless at.the summit of the hill, waiting for his not' help feeling that even this ertiesbme melodramatic scene derived a .certain awfril glamour through the beauty and aptness of the setting. . A Teast of Colour. ■' Another stage picturo of great magnificence is in the second act, /when the.Atage opens for the trial scene, after'the'musically brisk and interesting but dramatically ' males conversation of the clowns, Ping,' Pang and Pong. "The centre of the stage is a great flight of steps leading high up to,the throne, where the old Emperor,.the father of Turandot; is seated on a level: with the gallery. On both sides of the staircase rise tier upon tier of citizens.,. and warriors, decked out. in gorgeous costumes, .which, harmonising with the glitter of the weapons, and the deep red and. gold of the flags, provide a veritable feast of colour to delight the eye. During . these scenes the music fits the action well, which is no more than could be expected, given a composer of Puccini's talent. Some of the tricks and procedures he has used so-"effectively before are repeated with richer and surer technique, though not always with equal freshness and vigour. In the third act music takes the upper hand, the legend vanishes, and, apart from the grnesome fact of the torture applied to, Liu, the characters move in a human manner, and speak a language we know ana understand. It was not the beautiful ana cruel princess that really appealed to- £uo cinij but the slave girl, Liu, who has drawn from him the sweetest song.„. Bß . e '/Bntterally Puccinian creation, likeMtoi *nd Butter fly, fragile, ill-used, generous. «*• P", tined victim of the **' T l 6e °\„£l third act of Prince Calaf which ushers is also a slave melody- . o .'_ rJae . The final charm, with the tree «'«s£f as to its scene left one Mm » w £' m e£inedible .that dramatic fitness. . u J|i»f should not suffer the love of of the devoted some shock *rom the ««» h Liu, that bis P""? n D a«nr fa the ki.s "whtoh* and-boldness « o ' m . h °"„ e lni ns of man'a love. Susie W alter this

impression, for music ha* been "known to cloak over worse dramatic weaknesses. :■„-',.' Stagers' Success. .'). With/Liu's death, Piiccini'e work end*. ThelastVluet and the finale in which Turandot -ope'iily acknowledges 'herself won have ■been iron) the- rough sketches of the .-composer mth ekill by Signor Alfano. ToJrJjim is -duo c credit -tat'', a. work -which promised little ohance of 'porsonaluurtinction; apart' fromVtho honour/ of having made possible the "performance.-'of Puccini* wet opera. A final impression:''is one of' a great scenic spectacle and of clover and, at time?, finely persuasive, mnsic But it may bo doubted whether. of,- the . many who _ have wooed ; this . elusive' .and beautiful Pnncesa , of old Cathay Puccini will prove the most successful. ~ . „,,_, - The performance was. worthy _in every way of the high traditions of La |cm, which goes without eaying, since, Signor Arturo Tescamni "conducted the orchestra whole production The part of Turandot was played by Signers Eos* Haia* with, much d<gmty and w; h almost unlimited command of vocal skill. Siffnora Maria Zamboni acted and sang the part' of Liu with great eweetaesa and, Lotit from a tendency to attack the note from below/ a tendency which, is,, perhaps, not unnatural in momenta of great pathos, her interpretation was flawless. Signor Michele Fleta impersonated the conquering I hero,' acting •• and singing with skill and taste. Equally good were 'Signor- Carlo Walter as Timur, Signor Francesco Dominlci as the Emperor, and Signori Rimini, Patai, and Nessi in the three Gilbertian characters of Ping, Pane, and Pong. It should be added that the parte of these singers are the most difficult, but not the most grateful, of any written by Puccini; The highest praise ia not too high for the : stage directors and ecenio designers, whose craft made the' stage picture *-»av,delight, ',; The choral singing was also «cellent. "