(This is the first music she sings in the opera.) Her ancestor Princess Lo-u-Ling ruled until she was raped and murdered by a foreign prince, and Turandot believes Lo-u-Ling lives in her. Turandot emerges and begins to describe why no man may possess her. The Emperor asks Calaf to withdraw his challenge. A trumpet sounds announcing the entrance of the Emperor. Ping, Pang and Pong discuss their place in society, interspersing humour - do we prepare for a wedding or a funeral - and nostalgia - we are living in an era of endless death. Turandot accepts his challenge as the curtain falls on Act I. Calaf is touched but never the less runs forward, shouting Turandot’s name and bangs the gong three times. The jaunty threesome tells him not to risk it, as do Timur and Liu, the latter being not very secretly in love with Calaf. The Prince of Persia is executed.īlinded by Turandot’s beauty, Calaf is about to rush forward and bang the gong, signalling that he wishes to take the riddles when Ping, Pang and Pong appear. The crowd appeals in his favour, but Turandot appears and signals for the execution to continue. Calaf (Jose Cura) © Johan Persson/Royal OperaĪs the moon rises, the Prince of Persia is led to his death.

Puccini opera about an opera singer