Iréne Theorin will portray Puccini's icy princess. |
Check out an image from the Hockney production and watch a clip of Iréne Theorin singing the "Riddle Scene" from Turandot at Covent Garden after the jump.
"Puccini’s final masterpiece opens the season under the baton of Music Director Nicola Luisotti, who conducted this melodically rich, colorfully orchestrated work to great acclaim at London’s Royal Opera House in 2009. This passionate tale of a princess whose cruelty masks her fear of love features some of the composer’s most glorious music, including the stirring anthem “Nessun dorma.” It will be performed by an outstanding cast led by Swedish soprano Iréne Theorin, “the world’s reigning Turandot” (Opera Britannia); Adler Fellow Leah Crocetto, an “outlandishly gifted soprano” (San Francisco Chronicle); and Marco Berti, “one of the preeminent Italian singers of his generation” (MusicalCriticism.com). The lavish production, featuring David Hockney’s “dazzling sets” (San Francisco Chronicle), returns in November with an equally impressive ensemble led by soprano Susan Foster, whose “acting is as impressive as her powerful, well-controlled, emotionally compelling voice” (Washington Post), and Walter Fraccaro, a "husky-voiced" tenor whose singing is "burnished and impassioned" (The New York Times)." [Source]