Puccini: Turandot (Highlights) / Mehta, Sutherland

Good parts version

This is the "good parts version" of this wonderful opera. Pavarotti & Sutherland are so splendid, so powerful, so suited to each other. The best songs on this cd bring me to tears (and my husband too!). The only thing that would be better is the entire opera. But this is half the price and 80% of the wonderfulness. August 22, 2005

Excellent recording of Puccini masterpiece

Congrats all the way around for this excellent recording of "Turandot." Many cite this as the best on the market and I can see why. It boasts a stellar cast and conductor who really seems to understand the opera and Puccini's style.

The singers are in top form. Leading the charge is Joan Sutherland in the wholly uncharacteristic role of Turandot. I would not have thought of her in the role, and I imagine I am not alone on that one. But she acquits herself spendidly, lending a golden tone and pitch perfect sureness to this demanding role. The Act III duet with Pavarotti is particularly superb. Her acting is a touch underpowered but sufficient. However, the role is sung with great care and beauty.

Montserrat Caballe makes for luxury casting as Liu, considering that she would go on to record the title role. Rarely is a voice of her heft and richness cast in this very lyric soprano role. Her account of "Tanto amore segreto" is smashing. Her contribution to the Act I finale is also fantastic.

Pavarotti is also perfectly cast as Calaf, a role he would later sing on stage with Caballe as his Turandot (available in a live recording on the Gala label, well worth checking out). Pavarotti's voice just oozes heroism, and his spot-on technique (a little 'scooping' notwithstanding) is phenomenal. In a role that has attracted the most accomplished tenors of the century (Bjoerling, di Stefano, Domingo, Carreras, Corelli) Pavarotti more than holds his own. Outstanding.

Nicolai Ghiaurov's account of Timur is tonally lovely. His bass is pliant, with an affecting lightness in this role.

Conductor Zubin Mehta paces the opera beautifully. It is so refreshing to hear a conductor give the piece the "oomph" it needs in order to be the gripping tale that it is. After slogging through both Karajan and Maazel, I have to thank Mehta for understanding Puccini's style. Puccini is not Wagner and should not be treated as such. Puccini's operas tug at the heart because they take the hearer along with them for the ride. His style is not heady or academic and neither is Mehta's. Instead we get a rich and emotional account of this exquisite piece of music. Bravo!

The John Alldis Choir and London Philharmonic Orchestra also shine here, with some of the best work I have heard on an opera recording.

Excellent. A must have for Puccini enthusiasts. Of course, consider buying the entire set, which is reasonably priced. But if you just want the highlights, this is a perfect choice. December 9, 2002

Opera Loving Bartender

Living in San Francisco for 30 years afforded me many great nights at the opera,and I was very fortunate to hear and see singers who today are mostly retired or deceased and now fall into the category of legendary,phenomonal,and unsurpassed to several new generations of young lovers of fine singing.It did not matter that Luciano Pavarotti, in full costume, resembeled a Mardi Gras float,or little Carlo Bergonzi went up on tiptoes for all those perfect high notes, the sound of their voices will forever ring in my ears.Two operas in particular were unforgetable.PAVAROTTI/CABALLE in TURANDOT,with Prince Charles in the audience for added luster, and CABALLE/HORNE in Semeramide. One would be hard pressed to ever hear finer singing. The Sutherland-Pavarotti disc is probably the best in modern sound[30yrs old]with the highlight being the Liu of Caballe,but in 1959,one year before his untimely death,Jussi Bjorling with the great Birgit Nilsson gave us an early stereo Swedish tour de force, recently remastered,that still stands at the top ,where it rightfully belongs.
Louis S Davis May 9, 2002

Turandot of the Century

Dame Joan Sutherland has previously been referred to as the 'Voice of the Century' along with many other titles attesting the the magnificence of her singing and the sheer beauty of her voice. However at first thought, the prospect of her singing the role of Turandot, a role she did not sing on stage, might not ring true to most operaphiles. Her reputation as the finest, if not the only, dramatic coloratura would not seem to be compatible with this role. Fortunately one only has to hear a few bars to understand that this recording represents not only a beautifully sung Turandot but also has all the dramatic vocalization required (and not only by Miss Sutherland, but the entire cast as well). This is not a strident Turandot, but a heroic one with stunning tones that soar over the orchestra and chorus. The stellar cast also includes Caballe, among others, and frankly a more vocally desirable Liu could not be imagined. Any recording of opera that I have heard conducted by Zubin Mehta has always been a revelation; his genius in bringing otherwise hidden instrumentation foward into appropriate context, use of correct tempi and dynamics is invariably correct and results in stunning interpretation. This is a Turandot (get the complete version!) to be cherished for a century! We are not likely to hear the likes of another in this lifetime. March 30, 2000

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