Berio Turandot

I just returned from Carnegie Hall, where Robert Bass conducted what I
believe to be the first American (certainly New York) performance of Berio's
conclusion to Act III of Turnadot, preceded by Le Villi

I'd heard this once before on the internet, and liked it, and hearing it
again makes me even more positive about Berio's efforts. Apparently, it's
been met with mixed reviews - it's very different than either of the Alfano
attempts, harmonically it is a bit outre, although I think not unconnected
to some of the more interesting effects in the third act which precede it.
There's actually little singing for either Turandot or Calaf (a relief here
in this performance, where Franco Farina impressed me as barely one step
better than a provincial bawler), and relatively long stretches of
orchestral tone painting. I've always thought the standard Alfano was a big
mistake - two fat people yelling at each other for twenty minutes and then
getting married (perhaps too much like real life), and would generally be
satisfied to see the opera end with the death of Liu, which I think clinches
the dramatic action in any event. I think that what Berio was trying to do
was to put the conclusion into a context so that it didn't overwhelm the
dramatic impact of the death of Liu, and he succeeds, imvho, in doing that.
Also, I think the lengthy orchestral portions allow at least the possibility
of recognizing that there is some internal change going on between Calaf and
Turandot - I can never really believe that the change in Turandot takes
place so 'quickly'. I doubt that the Berio ending is going to be accepted by
a lot of opera houses, though it certainly makes life easier for sopranos. I
would like to see what a really good staging of the Berio did.

Aprile Millo was both Turandot and Anna in Villi - her voice got a little
lost for me in the dress circle of Carnegie in the Villi, but when I moved
downstairs for the Turandot there was much more presence. She's still a very
arresting and involved singer, but I think there's not a lot of 'point' in
the voice right now. Carlo Guelfi undoubtedly got a paycheck for Guglielmo -
Hei Kyung Hong, a singer I have never been able to like, was Liu.

There were a lot of microphones on stage (legitimate) and perhaps this is
all being recorded for some purpose.


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