Turandot

Turandot by Puccini, Ankara Opera, 16-March 2019

On 16th March 2018 Saturday evening we had the opportunity to watch Turandot opera of Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) in Ankara opera house. It was Puccini's last opera which was premiered in Milan LaScala opera house in 1926.

Opera libretto was based on Carlo Gozzi's fairytale play of 1762. Numerous renewal edits have been made. There's a strong fiction in libretto.

A cruel cold Princess, a foreign prince in love, difficult questions, answers, the brutal end in the case of incorrect answering.

We have a poor house maid who sacrificed herself for love.

Turandot character was given life by soprano Mehlika Karadeniz Bilgin on the premier night.

Prince Caraf character was played by tenor (and DOB GM) Murat Karahan. Murat Karahan sung "Nassun Dorma", at the beginning of the third act. It was amazing. Melody followed us till the end of the opera.

The soprano Tuğba Mankal was the extraordinary housemaid Piu.

L'Imperatore Altoum (Cem Akyüz), Timur (Şafak Power), Ping (Çetin Kıranbay), Pong (Arda Doğan), Pang Veysel Barış Yanç), Un Mandarino (Umt Kosman), Il Pricipino di Persia (Serkan Sarıkaya) were important characters on stage.

Decor design (Ozgur Usta), costumes (Savaş Camgöz) were very nice.

Italian Stage Director Vincenzo Grisostomi Travaglini had many years of experience. Our great orchestra conductor Antonio Pirolli directed the orchestra superbly.

The Opera house was full, the balconies were full, each side was full of standing viewers. The work was over, we all applauded the artists. We had a wonderful night.

Turandot is also on the Berlin DeutscheOper stage as well as in Sydney and Beijing opera houses in this season.

On 20-25 -Mart nights, opera will be repeated in Ankara Opera house. No tickets left for these nights. Do not wait for the internet to find tickets in the next plays. Go directly to the box office early in the morning. Internet sales are made in an hour after the box office opening, there is not much space left, it is sold within 15 minutes.

Ankara 17-March 2019

---

Haluk Direskeneli is a 1973 graduate from Middle East Technical University, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Since his graduation, he has been mainly involved in thermal / thermal design, manufacturing, marketing, bidding, sales and He has worked as a consultant for domestic market, engineering companies, investors and universities on thermal power plant design software. He is a member of MMO and METU Alumni Association Energy Commissions.