Because I love it so much

The opera is meant to be lavish. I cannot help but love the production of Turandot precisely because it is so incredibly over the top... I shouldn't be partial, but the spectacle of it all is such a stronger base for "character development" in comparison to last season's Don Giovanni. I'm sad that Franco Zeffirelli is no longer with us, because my goodness he had an eye for drama.

My favorite Act (this is the 2010 version so don't go looking for me :-) )

My favorite aria in this, my favorite act, is Liu's death scene at around 44 minutes in the above video.

Marina Poplavskaya (the principal singer in the video) and Hibla Gerzmava (the Liu in my cast) have similar nuances to their interpretations of this role, but I'm partial to Hibla's rendition because I've heard her live, and because she has this wonderful penchant for making notes float into the rafters with some of the most glorious, lilting clarity I've ever heard produced from a human.

Love,

A Broadway Baby