The Metropolitan Opera presents Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot" on this week's Saturday matinee broadcast. Franco Zeffirelli’s dazzling vision of mythic China retakes the stage, with soprano Elena Pankratova making her Met debut as the legendary—and lethal—title princess, opposite tenor SeokJong Baek as the valiant prince who puts his life on the line to win her love. Sopranos Aleksandra Kurzak, Juliana Grigoryan, Gabriella Reyes, Angel Blue, and Olga Kulchynska alternate as Liù, with basses Vitalij Kowaljow, Peixin Chen, and Soloman Howard as Timur. Maestro Oksana Lyniv makes her Met debut leading Puccini’s rousing score, sharing conducting duties with Marco Armiliato.
Joshua Borths gives us his thoughts on Puccini's classic. You can hear his previews on my "Afternoon Classical" show each Friday afternoon just before 5pm.
Tune in to hear "Turandot" Saturday afternoon, March 16th at noon (an early start time!) on VPM Music, 93.1 and 107.3 in central Virginia and streaming online here at vpm.org!
Yours in good music,
Mike Goldberg
Classical Host, VPM Music