|
THE TURANDOT PROJECT Send This Review to a Friend
Music lovers and China watchers should delight in this most unusual exploration of a staged event that transcended the confines of merely putting on an opera. This production of Puccini's "Turandot" was initiated in Florence in 1997 and fulfilled subsequently with outdoor performances in the Forbidden City of Beijing. The director of the opera was none other than the celebrated Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, a master of the screen but a novice at staging western opera. His collaborator was renowned conductor Zubin Mehta as musical director and it took a great effort just to get permission to stage the opera in Beijing.
Part of the fun in this film by director Allan Miller, who captures a wealth of backstage detail, lies in the aesthetic clashes between Zhang and Mehta. The arguments are amusing as compromises are struck, not always to Zhang's satisfaction. Zhang wanted the stage brilliantly lit and geared to what he thought would work on film and to what Chinese audiences expect. Mehta wanted more subtle lighting and viewed the challenge from the perspective of what he believes works on stage. Concerning the costumes, Zhang thought that using western costume ideas for "Turandot" would turn out to be laughable, as audiences in China are sticklers for accurate historical detail. Since Puccini's 1926 opera is set in ancient China, Zhang was convinced that the audience would know exactly what the costumes should be like.
Zhang hired some 2000 people from rural china to sew and embroider 900 new costumes, and the visual result is staggeringly beautiful. Other challenges included the acoustics in the huge public space and problems with the weather, as well as the international composition of the singers, including Sharon Sweet, Giovanna Casolla and Audrey Stottler (who took turns in the title role) and other rotating performers including Lando Bartolini, Sergej Larin, Kristjan Johannsson, Barbara Fritolli, Barbara Hendricks and Angela Maria Blasi. The chorus was provided by the Florence Opera, and various Chinese minor characters and extras also participated, some of them not being the least bit familiar with Western opera.
The opera staging itself turns out to be a stunning spectacle, but not as great an entertainment as the intimate filmed look at its preparation, staging and fascinating cultural interchange in action. A Zeitgeist Films release.
|