THE ENO's TURANDOT - a review

TURANDOT
English National Opera at the London Coliseum.


Puccini’s final (unfinished) opera, is traditionally set in Beijing’s Imperial City with Princess Turandot’s sang froid in the face of eligible suitors being the central theme. Disconcertingly, Rupert Goold’s version opens in the dining area of a large Chinese restaurant. An eclectic set of over sixty characters, most of whom seem to have raided a fancy dress shop to find the most outlandish costumes, are corralled by six Chinese dominatrices, as a rare overture from Puccini ends.

What should have been a magnificent display of Sino-imperial splendour became a maelstrom of Elvises, Chelsea pensioners, drag queens, clowns, New York cops, orthodox Jews, nuns etc. etc., forming a pantomime excess that only served to diffuse concentration.. This was compounded by one character, in the form of Margaret Thatcher that continually and disconcertingly, drew the eye.

The first act, in short was chaotic, confusing and contrived. Even James Creswell’s rich and vibrant bass tones as Timur the exiled king, were sometimes overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the restaurant.

Act two opened with Ping (Benedict Nelson), Pong (Christopher Turner), and Pang (Richard Roberts), performing in a simple and focussed setting of a fire escape at the rear of the Imperial Palace restaurant, allowing their characterisation to fully emerge and hence to add some much-needed plot.. However, we soon returned to the chaotic setting of the interior, with the chorus’ costumes continuing to distract with their numerous cultural references. What was noteworthy were the eight dancers in Japanese manga make-up and costumes adding some much needed élan and focus to part two of the second act.

The juxtaposition between the chaos of Act one and the minimalist set of Act three then serves to emphasise the sheer brilliance of Puccini’s vision. The empty and quiet white tiled functional kitchen is a potent backdrop to Gwyn Hughes Jones’ tenor in the role of Calif (Timur’s son) as he delivers Nessun Dorma in an impressive manner. The power of the aria is enhanced by the chance to focus on the vocal performance without the organised chaos that so often distracted in the first and second acts.

Amanda Echalaz as a scene-stealing Lliu, singing a beguiling version of her second aria (You who are begirdled by ice) outperforming Kirsten Blanck’s Turandot, who never seemed to dominate the performance as the central character should. Scott Handy as Goold’s superfluous addition of a writer, silently observing the action was irritating and distracting in the extreme and his eventual death (silent, of course) was most welcome.

Whist each of the three acts climaxed with the entire chorus on stage, each time looking more and more like the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, at the finale, their reprise of Nessun Dorma was quite magnificent.
Goold’s production detracted from Puccini’s masterpiece rather than enhancing it and seemed pretentious, verging on the self indulgent in parts, which may be acceptable in musical theatre but singularly failed to deliver here. It is a pity that a multi-talented cast of chorus and leads were not given a much better vehicle to showcase their obvious high qualities.

The ENO’s current version of Turandot is on at the Coliseum until 12 December