Not clever but it is big: Turandot at the ROH
Turandot
The Royal Opera
Royal Opera House
Amphitheatre A67, general rehearsal
3 July 2017
ROH page
Seeing Otello and Turandot on consecutive nights made me think how, despite their superficial similarities, in character they're about as different as two operas could be. If I were a great Italian opera composer I think I'd rather take credit for Otello – but given The Royal Opera's productions for each, the flashy, heartless Turandot is arguably the more complete entertainment of the two.
The last time I saw it I loathed Andrei Serban's creaking 1984 production: all grotesque stylization and embarrassing Chinesey stereotypes. Not a fitting setting for Puccini's last work, I thought. The intervening years seem to have killed my romance with Turandot, though, as this time round I found myself thinking it wasn't such a bad fit after all.
Which is not to say I didn't enjoy it. The opera is big, bold and bombastic, a series of spectacular showpieces rounded off with three rousing finales. Serban's production matches the sense of spectacle inch for inch, while the present singers amply fill their simple brief: be there, be big, be loud.
Aleksandrs Antonenko as Calaf is very loud: his ringing, metallic, sort of nasal voice pinging out deafeningly. Christine Goerke as Turandot is extremely loud: her rapid, meaty vibrato sometimes abrasive, often thrilling. Loudest and most glorious of all is Hibla Gerzmava as Liù: if cream can gleam then this is what it sounds like. It's the perfect vehicle for the beautiful music this character problematically receives.
The chorus sings loudly and mostly on the beat; the other roles are well cast with the ever-reliable Aled Hall as Pang showing them all how it's done; and Dan Ettinger in the pit ably keeps the whole shebang together while urging the orchestra to relish those big tunes and epic surges. Is it insightful? No. Is it nuanced? No. Is it emotionally engaging? No way. It's not clever and it's not sophisticated, but it is undeniably entertaining.
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