Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. With Galina Savoya, Vitaly Taraschenko, Else Saque, Carsten Stabell. Beijing Central Opera Symphony Orchestra. Choir of San Carlos National Theatre, directed by Paulo Trevisi, conducted by Renato Palumbo. The Forum. October 31.
MASSIVE, extravagant, sensual, savage. Words can hardly do credit to the Macau Music Festival's staging this week of Puccini's Turandot at The Forum.
While I had reservations about the use of The Forum for any ''serious'' music, this production of Turandot belied my misgivings. By the end of the last act the stage was flowing with about 130 people, yet it never appeared crowded.
There were dozens of banner-carriers, the 90-strong San Carlos choir, the principals resplendent in their chinoiserie, drum-beaters, slaves. And in the background columns streamed with gold against the black of The Forum.
The ending is not by Puccini (the composer died of cancer, and the last 20 minutes were finished by another). But by the end of the opera, it had all the emotion, grandeur and show-bizzy business which makes the music so thrilling.
This was a ''people'' production, so the sets by Paulo Trevisi, while huge in size, were vividly simple in concept. The first act was played in front of three curtains, each with a stylised shield over a scrim through which other characters - executioners or Turandot herself - could be seen. This backing for a ferocious lion dance was ideal. The other acts were played against darkness, with the wavy golden columns and throne offering the only contrast.
