Katia Ricciarelli - Turandot - Liu's Death Scene

[marcomanuelgloria]

CHE SPETTACOLO DI INTERPRETAZIONE !!!!!!

[iubanne]

direi ottima.

[7bbuwe]

Super gute interpretation BRAVA!!

[spgtenor]

What happened to the torture scene? Ping orders her to be tortured, she says she can resist no more, but nobody even touches her. She has no reason to kill herself, this is absolutely horrendous staging. It's too bad because she is perfect as Liu.

[MrLupo23]

@spgtenor I agree. She also says: "Let me pass, let me pass!!" But nobody is there!!!!

[MrLupo23]

"Lasciatemi passare, lasciatemi passare" Ma dove visto che ha tutta la scena libera?? O_o

[vivaciouscritic]

uhm she didn't even stab herself.  and Lorin needs to go to some rehearsals so he knows what the singer wants to do.

thxby

[alexandriusgirl]

Calaf is such a stupid character!

Poor Timur.... He breaks my heart when he tries to wake Liu.... :,(

[BiancoRose]

Wow. Words cannot describe this performance.

[Durchlaucht1970]

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!!!!!

[Mixtupabit]

Love Ricciarelli's Liu brings a vulnerability to the role..The ending is a bit predicatable but following Puccini's death it was a thankless task for Alfano.At it's premier the opera ended at Liu's death as this was where Puccini had more or less completed it to..The Audience left in silence with only one shout of "Viva Puccini"..

[TheFrostickles]

The libretto of Turandot is just sick..

[alandelane]

@TheFrostickles

No, it isn't. ... but I always wonder if the end of Turandot (both the opera and the character) shouldn't have been ... darker, more terrible.

Yours,

AdL

[90lysander]

Awful costumes and stage direction ... but Ricciarelli is an angel!

[harshy29]

this is my friends cousin

[Dalmata1961]

I was once doing Turandot as a choir singer. A mega production in sport hall. Stage 50m x 100m amazing......

We were rehearsing in a huge hall.... just concrete and steel........ cold and empty..... no atmosphere at all..... and then this scene came and at the end when we picked up Liu like in a funeral I could not surpress my tears..... Amazing music.... amazing scene.....

[ezev8logos]

Liu es lo mejor de la opera, el único personaje puro, cada vez que veo esta escena se me caen las lagrimas. Grande puccini Genio!!!

[ABThatsMe91]

I cannot describe this. Breathtaking. Beautiful.

[elephantbarbiegirl]

I weep for Liu. So loyal. So faithful. She's such a moving character. She reminds me of Butterfly in her steadfastness

[raigekimaru]

I think I like the role of Liu better than Turandot. Turandot is just a bunch of screaming and cold vocal performance. Liu is graceful with lots of legato and artistry.

[saradamsmc]

Gorgeous!

[Lourdesdejesus1]

Las consagradas de antes, que son verdaderos iconos, que crearon escuela y tradicion como la Callas, la Tebaldi, Caballé, Richiarelli, etc. pero ahora tambien hay muy buenas sopranos,

como Angela Giorghiu, Rene Fleming, Ana Netrebko, April Milo, Kiri Te Kanawa,

Ana Maria Martinez, a mi megustan todas las que cantan bien.

.

[8Quna8]

As much as I adore Puccini's music, for me Turandot was NOT with happy ending. It seemed so false after what happened to Liu :(

[alexandriusgirl]

I felt the exact same thing after seeing it for the first time- but an interesting fact, that can shed some light on the weird storyline, is that Puccini died right after finishing her death scene.. Who knows how he whould have done it.

[CONTESTAR]

The happy ending was conceived before Puccini died

Well, the key does not lie with Puccini or his libretist being callous to Liu, but with a misconception that most have.

Turandot and Calaf are No-Real-Life-People but the all consuming Yin Yan symbols that will do anything in their eternal take-no-prisoners war for dominance over one another and occasionally -maybe- love for each other.

This explains Calaf's rather cold and definitely belated reaction to Liu's death and Turandot's bloody habits.

[DFWBrysco]

@CONTESTAR - In a way, I think you are correct, Contestar - but remember, by the time we got to this point in the Opera, Puccini had already died and Franco Alfano had taken over writing the ending. Who knows what would have been the end if Puccini could have finished it? Perhaps Calaf and Liu would have ended up together with Turandot's head on a spike...

[90lysander]

@DFWBrysco It's true that Puccini didn't finish Turandot, but he did write through Puccini's death aria. It's clear she was going to die and the Calaf and Turandot were going to end up together. That said, he did not write the final versions of the following duet or chorus, nor did he have the opportunity to revise the opera (as he often did), so he might at least have made the final pairing more dramatically viable.

[borghesina96]

Ii live in Puccini's brith town in Tuscany and here all Turandot's productions end with Liu's death, because it's ending is spurious

[m97et02f]

I don't think it is a happy ending. Calaf turns out to be a thoughtless selfish man and he and Turandot revel in their lust over Liu's corpse. She is the only positive character in the story. Puccini really was exploring depths of human depravity, especially with the 'happy' ending

[raigekimaru]

@m97et02f

seriously. why the fuck would you marry someone who ordered people to torture and murder your friend? what a shallow, selfish bastard.

[nispen]

@raigekimaru

Mmm, interesting comment. I was so used to the story, the idea expressed in your comment never entered my mind. Drat, now I won't be able to view this opera in the same, perhaps naive, way as before.

[vocede]

Das ist vor ihr sehr schön und dynamisch gesungen!!!

[jackbhungry]

also timur is the shit

[raigekimaru]

such a pure sweet vocal color

[TheBasilio]

katia es la unica a la que se le oye bien liu y turandot, los dos papeles.

[00ceroalaizquierda00]

Muy de acuerdo (Y)

[00ceroalaizquierda00]

PD: y no sabría decirte en cual de los dos me gusta más

un saludo!

[jackbhungry]

i like her the most

[tenoremio]

che splendida voce che aveva

[pocokkaa]

Incredible voice, incredible technical solutions, incredible deep emotions. BRAVO!

[Lenochka1107]

It is very original and deep emotional perfomance! Bravo Katia!!!

[popertop]

oh my god.

that's incredible.

she's so beautiful too, in that pure way.

the way she looks out of her eyes, and the way she delivers all of this is just amazing.

[owenboi66]

I much prefer her as Liu. Her recording of the title role was not a roaring success. This is in a league of its own. Moving on every level. Thank you for posting it.

[Orosmann]

Tan criticada, tan defenestrada por publico y crítica ... sin embargo cuanto dariamos por tener una soprano lirica de semejante calidad tímbrica, un conocimiento cabal del fraseo pucciniano y un italiano perfecto que deja en claro que se trata de su idioma natar ... todo fluye: pianissimos, mezzavoces y fortissimos ... vaya fiato ademas! Nos merecemos las japonesitas caprinas, con italiano defectuoso, inexpresivas y sin fiato que tenemos que escuchar hoy en los teatros.

[Mondeschatten]

toda la razon , las voces de ahora dejan bastante que desear en interpretacion

[vocalpianist]

thank you for posting this!! Incredibly emotional, I wish I could have been there ugh.

I felt like weeping, for liu, and then when timur aproaches, ahhhh shivers!

[operafromegypt]

of any critic....it's a passionate art,too much commonsense would suffocate its beauty....

[operafromegypt]

i totally agree with you voluptuossa1234,i actually have (to me, a similar approach but at the same time quite different)...u c, many people do the same with GOD!i did one thing wrong today, i will do the opposite tomorrow so i could win more points...this is the best way to worship GOD...oh no, u people dont know how to worship GOD!etc...simply:BE TRUE,CHERISH BEAUTY,LIVE BY IT AND TO IT!technique is definitely imp, yet it must come from the heart, not the exaggerated too particular analysis

[vocalpianist]

I like this, good comment

[SingingCrab7]

Amazing!

[PucciniTur]

Sorry:) Shafajinskaia...

[Lweoira]

You meant for the Turandot right?Because I do not know if she performed Liu and I doubt if her voice is for that...

[PucciniTur]

Some people mix up their "non professional" personal taste with professionalism.

Ricciarelli's interpretation is one of the best renditions of Liu after 26 years if not "the best" (excl C. Gallardo-Domas, which is completely different).

Liu's role was written for Liric soprano (such as Mrs Riciarelli), not for earth-trembling ceiling blowing dramatic sopranos as Dimitrova or Safajinskaia for the role of Turandot.

May I add that: I have't heard more suitable voice for Liu as Riciarelli's voice

[SingstaMay]

I can't believe they cut it right there-before the chorus

[fraulein40]

Having a good cry over this! It breaks my heart! But that's what we like about it!

[eplv2]

Loved it. Very moving. I don't know about some people and their useless comments...if you don't like something, that's fine, you don't have to be an ass about it. Some people pretend to like opera just to say they have class, but class is exactly what they lack.

[rayacs123]

Don't care what the armchair critics say, l loved this performance-especially her high notes.

[ua1907]

mrs Ricciarelli's interpretation is heartbreaking and i also agree with leontyne2.

I think that she sings good, lyric piaissimis are beautiful. Don't compare strenght of voice between lyric and dramatic voices. The one, who critices her so badly, probably favoures big voices.

[sweetaztecangel69]

@ua1907 but lyrics can also have big voices :]

[sagalat]

Agree with Leontyne2. Very moving, great singing (and audio) with momentous impulse forward to her suicide. Haven't cried this much since Operation Lam Son 719 (Fire Base 30).

[uniqueattack]

Eva Marton's squillo could slice all of your tongues and fingers off and then we wouldn't have to listen to your boring comments.

[reebachan]

The costume is horrible!

[jillgivler]

I don't dislike her as much as Nicopaollo does - without getting into any quibbling about her technique, I do find her sweet and sad, as Liu should be. However, the chorus is just leaden and that costume! The poor girl looks like a Romulan!

[gclef2288]

I think she is lovely...

[leontyne2]

Ricciarelli is one of the few sopranos who had a true piannissimi at the top of her voice. She sings with great emotion and is truly an opera star! Too bad we don't have singers today with half her personality and class.

[Voluptuossa1234]

I agree. Her piannissimi is just amazing. I only wish I could accomplish that - my big dramatic voice doesn't suit this role at all. :(

[Bigman240]

Puccini...amore...

[nicopaolillo]

dear ricciarelli this is not singing, it's only a bad weeping.all sounds are back, without breath support. the bass is terrible!!!

[69Faubourg]

Oh yeah? You could sing it better?

[fiordiligicymraeg]

That doesn't really matter - after all, it's Ricciarelli who is the famous singer, and anyone is entitled their opinion about her singing, whether or not they could do it better or not. Here I liked her singing, but in "Signore ascolta" nicopaolillo's remarks aren't off the mark

[69Faubourg]

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. Opinions are like asses. Everybody has one. The only person who is competent to judge the performance of a bullfighter is another bullfighter. I am certain that you would find any serious artist who has made a decent singing career to be far more lenient with Madame Riciarelli than this this archair expert. Those who can do, do. Those who can't, criticize. I rest my case.

[fiordiligicymraeg]

I'm sorry - I just found the "you can do it better, eh?" comment rather childish, that's all.

[69Faubourg]

"Childish" is inappropriate. The music world is filled with amateurs who have taken a few lessons and feel that they know everything about singing technique. If Mr. Nicopaolillo had to sing a few notes before a crowd of 10 (much less 5000) he would probably soil his britches..but I'm certain that he would have wonderful breath support and superb forward placement.

[Voluptuossa1234]

I hate comments like these. They only make you look like a pompous jerk. I am no expert, so I will not comment on her technique, but I will say that she sounds great and on of the most expressive Liu's I've seen. Of course proper technique is important in opera, but so is the ability to convey emotion. I'd rather see an opera with great (even if slightly imperfect) singing that makes me feel than see an opera with perfect singing but dull acting. It is an entire package!