Turandot

I went to my first Opera on Tuesday. I, surprisingly enough, really liked it. There were no fat blondes with spears, shields, viking hats, or braids. The opera was in Italian, but it was subtitled. The singing was beautiful and the choreography was decent, but what got me was the elaborate stage design.

The stage was set off of a large wooden dragon head with two giant claws, one that held a ball and one that held the emperor. The dragon foreshortened into the painted back drop seamlessly. The ball in the one claw started off silver but turned read as it rose to reveal Turandot underneath. The ball was used wonderfully to represent not only the moods of Turandot but also the sun and the moon. There were pikes with heads on them set up only I did not notice the heads until the suitor had been beheaded. The dragon was too large to move during intermission but the stage design and choreography worked to move your attention to other stage elements, causing you to believe that the characters are indeed in a different location. When the story moves to the marsh, there are beautifully suspended trees and lighting effects that, again, took my imagination to a different place.

Costuming was great as well. The opera is set in China and, being in Tennessee, there are not a lot of Asians to play roles. The supporting cast were very believable. The choice of wardrobes including eye masks that gave the characters a more Asian feel. The main characters did not wear the masks but a lot can be done with make up and styling. The colorful Ping, Pong, and Pang were done very well. I found myself entranced with the painted designs of their facial makeup.

Overall, I was very impressed with the opera. I think Turandot was very good and I applaud the Nashville Opera for the excellent show. If you have not experienced the opera, please do so. From my experience I would recommend Turandot.

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