Giacomo Puccini - Turandot (2014) Blu-ray Audio

Tracklist:
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Turandot
Act 1
1. Popoli di Pekino! 05:35
2. Gira la cote! 07:05
3. O giovinetto! Grazia, grazia! 05:07
4. Figlio, che fai? 01:40
5. Fermo! Che fai? T'arresta 06:15
6. Signore, ascolta 02:40
7. Non piangere Liù 05:14
Act 2
8. Olà, Pang! Olà, Pong! 03:20
9. Ho una casa nell'Honan 03:42
10. O mondo, O mondo 05:31
11. Introduzione (Scene 2) 01:01
12. Gravi, enormi ed impotenti 03:27
13. Un giuramento atroce mi costringe 04:03
14. Popolo di Pekino 01:56
15. In questa reggia 06:34
16. Straniero, ascolta 06:48
17. Gloria, gloria, o vincitore 04:07
18. Tre enigmi m'hai proposto 04:13
Act 3
19. Introduzione - Così comanda Turandot 03:27
20. Nessun dorma! 06:42
21. Principessa divina! 07:11
22. Tu che di gel sei cinta 02:52
23. Liù! Liù! Sorgi! Sorgi! 04:43
24. Principessa di morte! 03:16
25. Che è mai di me? 02:46
26. Del primo pianto...Più grande vittoria non voler 03:56
27. So il tuo nome! 02:13
28. Diecimile anni al nostro Imperatore...Padre augusto 02:27

The world's most famous tenor performs the world's most famous tenor aria, Nessun dorma, on this 1972 recording of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot. It became Luciano Pavarotti's signature aria: he performed it at his final concert. Pavarotti even managed a hit single on the charts with this recording in 1990 when it was used on the BBC's World Cup telecasts. The aria charted again in 2007 after this version was played at his funeral. In addition to Pavarotti, the star-studded recording features Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Nicolai Ghiaurov, conductor Zubin Mehta and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

"... Sutherland gives an intensely revealing and appealing interpretation ... Pavarotti gives a performance equally imaginative, beautiful in sound, strong on detail. Mehta directs a gloriously rich and dramatic performance, superlatively recorded, still the best-sounding Turandot, while the reading also remains supreme." --The Penguin Guide

"Turandot is a psychologically complex work fusing appalling sadism with self-sacrificing devotion. The icy Princess of China has agreed to marry any man of royal blood who can solve three riddles she has posed. If he fails his head will roll. Calaf, the son of the exiled Tartar king Timur, answers all the questions easily and when Turandot hesitates to accept him, magnanimously offers her a riddle in return - 'What is his name?'. Liù, Calaf's faithful slave-girl, is tortured but rather than reveal his identity kills herself. Turandot finally capitulates, announcing that his name is Love. Dame Joan Sutherland's assumption of the title role is statuesque, combining regal poise with a more human warmth, while Montserrat Caballé is a touchingly sympathetic Liù, skilfully steering the character away from any hint of the mawkish. Pavarotti's Calaf is a heroic figure in splendid voice and the chorus is handled with great power, baying for blood at one minute, enraptured with Liù's nobility at the next. Mehta conducts with great passion and a natural feel for Puccini's wonderfully tempestuous drama. Well recorded." --The Gramophone Classical Music Guide

Joan Sutherland, soprano - Turandot
Luciano Pavarotti, tenor - Calaf
Montserrat Caballé, soprano - Liù
Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass - Timur
Tom Krause, baritone - Ping
Pier Francesco Poli, tenor - Pang
Piero De Palma, tenor - Pong
Peter Pears, tenor - L'imperatore Altoum
Sabin Markov, baritone - Un mandarino
London Philharmonic Orchestra
John Alldis Choir
Zubin Mehta - conductor