English National Opera Guides are ideal companions to the opera. They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original.

“A Turandot filtered through a modern brain”, wrote Puccini, describing his plans to rework the eighteenth-century fable by Carlo Gozzi. According to Mosco Carner, Puccini’s last and supreme work is an advanced score which, with an orchestration that reflects contemporaries such as Richard Strauss and Stravinsky as well as genuine Chinese rhythms and harmonies, remains true to the Italian vocal tradition. The musicologist Jürgen Maehder analyses of the ending, which Franco Alfano composed from Puccini’s sketches. In addition, the great British soprano Dame Eva Turner recalls her experiences of singing the title role, of which she was a legendary interpreter.

Contents: The Genesis of the Opera, Mosco Carner; The Score, Mosco Carner; Puccini’s ‘Turandot’: A Fragment, Jürgen Maehder; Carlo Gozzi’s ‘Turandot’ and Its Transformation into Puccini’s Libretto, John Black; Memories of Performing ‘Turandot’, Eva Turner; Turandot: Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni; Turandot: English literal translation by William Weaver