July 11, 2009
Everything about Puccini’s opera Turandot is big: big orchestra, big voices, big chorus, enormous sets, and massive emotions. So it is daring for a company the size of Festival Opera to undertake such a giant. But no need to worry, for this is a triumphant Turandot. Last Saturday’s opening night audience, at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, indicated this by its unstinting cheers and applause.
At the center of this Italian-told Chinese fairy tale is a pair of outsized protagonists: the man-fearing princess Turandot and the fellow who dares to teach her love, the wandering prince Calaf. Soprano Othalie Graham’s princess was imperious of voice and stature throughout. Her voice is a thrilling amalgam of gold and steel, and she sang Puccini’s challenging leaps and ever-increasing vocal ascendancy with great power and ease. She was fierce in her telling of Turandot’s fears (the rape of her ancestor in this very palace, “In questa reggia”) and ferocious in her determination to remain solitary by imposing three deadly riddles (“Straniero, ascolta”). Yet Graham also showed vulnerability in her softened plea to her father the Emperor, begging him not to have her marry (“Figlio cel Cielo!”).
Equally determined in his voice and stance was the young tenor Christopher Jackson in his local debut as the heroic prince. Jackson’s was an intriguing interpretation. While he is tall and arresting, his Calaf is gentler than expected, his voice almost crooning when Turandot is cruelest. He is also a tenor who knows the impact of singing softly, delivering nuance over noise.
“FULL REVIEW’:http://sfcv.org/news-reviews/reviews/festival-opera/festival-operas-triumphant-turandot
