Puccini: Turandot [Blu-Ray]

Everything that Puccini intended, and beautifully rendered by all and sundry. Turandot was my reception into Opera at the Sydney Opera House in 1998/1999. I had been (and still am) a lover of contemporary forms of music, and had shunned my mother's attempts to open my ears to opera. Turandot was the perfect opera for me at the time (I've expanded my horizons now !) because of the fantastic ensembles, the choral effect of the music, the exotic nature of the score, the beautiful arias.Nothing about this production failed my expectations. It is a lavish production, and Guleghina impressed me both in her command of the Princess's part, and also her total lack of pretension when interviewed prior to the third act. At last, a princess to admire and she radiates with a beauty which hasn't been seen for quite a while in the part. It was the first time I didn't see the Princess has utterly despicable, but rather as a traumatised victim of history who is fiercely guarding her last vestige of dignity. Guleghina can take credit for that.Poplavskaya is perfect as Liu. Her acting and singing are superb, wringing every last ounce of sympathy from her part. Giordano is pretty good I thought, and I feel sorry for him that he has to be compared with Domingo, Pavarotti and Co. His acting is passable.The orchestra are fantastic and the Blu-Ray is superb on my 55".Indispensable in my view.

This Blu-ray was the only Met Zefferelli version blu-ray available so I purchased it. Having owned the old vhs version for years featuring Eva Marton, I was very familiar with this production. The dvd is a pared down version of the HD theatrical live performance from two years ago and has some nice backstage touches…although not on the level of the live theatrical experience.My biggest problem was with Maria Guleghina as Turnadot. And it's nothing against her personally. She has a fine voice, etc. However, she is NOT Eva Marton in her characterization. Eva Marton was able to convey miracles with her hands… in fact, her "hand acting" was as good as any other feature. Guleghina appeared rather clumsy and almost dowdy in the role, compared the the diva Marton. So.. given the two versions available, I"d opt for the Marton one despite its technical deficiencies.

This is an incredibly big, beautiful, and majestic production, carefully choreographed with gorgeous sets and costumes, with a huge chorus and plenty of extras. The camera work and direction was awesome. All lead performances were outstanding, and the voices need to be heard to be believed. Everything was extremely well done and recorded, and I was very moved with all of it. I loved the interviews with the leads before the second act, and it made me appreciate the remainder of the opera after being introduced the down to earth "stars" of the production who were very likable and "real". This is going in my special collection of favorite opera recordings that I will watch time and time again. I highly, highly recommend this to anyone who is an opera lover, and appreciates all the fine artistry of a fantastic theater and/or opera production that transforms it into an extraordinary viewing and listening experience!

I was lucky enough to stumble across this "Turandot" when it aired on my local PBS station several years ago. Curious to see what a production by The Metropolitan Opera was like, I thought I'd give it 10 minutes before moving on to something else. Two hours later I was gobsmacked to find myself still watching the curtain calls. Zeffirelli's "Turandot" is absolutely gorgeous! The costumes, sets, and lighting run the entire gamut; from dim, moon-drenched rooftops of the first act to the grand, golden throne room of the second. Puccini's music is expressive and colorful, and the Met Opera's cast performs it beautifully. Blu-ray has phenomenal sound design and visual clarity, which is perfect for this spectacular production of "Turandot." Highly recommended! This is my all-time favorite opera!

Whatever your opinion is about the grand Zeffirelli production at the theater, it doesn't work for the small screen, even when the BluRay technology brings you every single detail. The great spectacle that this production is supposed to be looks crowded and confusing on TV. First act is on the darker side, making it even less appealing on TV. Many think Zeffirelli's production is already passé. It was never intended to be shown on TV and it doesn't seem to work. The WOW factor is not there.The start of the night is Liu (Marina Poplavskaya). Her singing and acting is superb. Puccini would have been proud of her heroine. Calaf (Marcello Giordani) is disappointing and gets loss when confronting Turandot (Maria Guleghina). For some reason I don't found any passion in his signing and certainly not in his acting.If you are looking for a great spectacle, watch Zubin Mehta conduct in the forbidden city of Beijing (1998). Although the audio is Stereo only, it is worth watching and listening.

Who were those boorish engineers whose overhead camera shots showed what was below the blue plastics that was supposed to be the lake below the throne room. We ended up watching the rest of the props which an audience was not supposed to see. I can understand showing behind the scene sets during intermission, but not during a performance.

This is the best blue ray opera, traditional set, brilliant sets, brilliant costume, singing, acting. Please buy this Blu Ray and bring traditional opera back. Franco's set design is perfect and beyond Anything out there. More people would love opera if it was performed like this. Outstanding performance and the orchestra is perfect.

I have seen in the MET last november, the opera was beautiful, Zeffirelli,s work very good. I wanted to check the quality of blu-ray ,the sharpness of the picture on my Sony Bravia full HD screen. Incredible! There are a lot of short distance shots and you can see the fantastic costumes not from 10-15 yards! Who loves Pavarotti,s Nessun Dorma ( my favorite song ) - must have this blue-ray!

This was my first experience of opera on Blue-Ray and visually it is stunning every facet of Zefferelli's glittering staging caught in pin sharp detail. The sound matches the picture with a wide dynamic range and the voices well caught. I only have a DTS equipped amp so cannot comment on the DTS HD Master Audio aspect.Unfortunately I purchased one of the earlier versions where the sub-titles were way out of sync with the music. Considering the price paid and the fact i know the work well enough I just switched them off. I understand this promlem has now been corrected but there may be older versions still out there. The singing from the principles while not matching that of some of the great exponents of the roles mostly captured on CD and LP gives little to other DVD versions. There is also little in the way of dramictic acting but then the work is rather static with the main characters spending little or no time alone on stage, the beguinning of act III with Nessun Dorma being the execption, most of the time there are large crowds on stage. The truncated Alfano completion is offered. The conducting is more than adequate with a good drive and sense of momentum if lacking the musical depth of someone like Karajan in the pit. There is only one other Blue-Ray alternative with the same singer in the title role (which I have not seen) which offers a different approach to setting. If you want a mainstream version with top notch picture and sound well sung you cannot go far wrong with this. Watch out for the early versions though if you need the subtitles.

As initially reported in reviews as far back as 2011, the English subtitles are still 37 seconds behind the singing in the Blu-ray version being sent out. I returned the first disk received and had a replacement copy sent out. The replacement copy had exactly the same problem.I note that in a review from 2013 it was stated that the problem with the subtitles was fixed... well six years later there are still faulty copies being sent out by Amazon.This is a real pity, as the production and recording looks to be excellent, but there is little point in watching this if you are relying on an English translation.Poor show from Amazon sending out faulty copies when this fault was highlighted as far back as 2011.

I had not come across 'Amazon Warehouse Deals' before, but a price of £3.19 for a 'used' blu ray was far too tempting! The product arrived shrink wrapped and with the booklet. The quality of the DVD is everything that you would expect from a high quality blu ray from Decca. However there is a BUT!! If you read some of the reviews, there are comments about the subtitles running about 30 seconds behind and of being sparse in content. Yes my DVD has this problem but at the price I can certainly put up with it. However it would have been better if Amazon had mentioned that this was perhaps the reason for the cheap price.Did I enjoy the DVD otherwise - yes. The staging, lighting and costumes are brilliant, the chorus is tremendous and most of the main singers are good

The Blu-ray has the English subtitles 35 seconds out of sync with the voices (in French and Spanish seems that are no problems, i tested it). The english subitles work fine in Act 3. So, if you only understand english don't buy, because it's almost impossible to follow the story and the drama (until act 3), and you loose the pleasure of seeing it.

I think it's worth adding the comment at a headline level that the subtitles seem now to be fixed as I would not have bought this if I'd just quickly seen the reviews about subtitles.It is a truly gorgeous production and the music is outstanding. The "behind the scenes" introductions grate somewhat and will incline me away from future Met DVDs if there's a good alternative, but it's tolerable. Some of the voices whether in life or in the recording are just weak. Not the definitive Turandot, but with a DVD 10-20 x cheaper than a live performance it's worth it.