Turandot productions highlight Puccini’s legacy in Lisbon and Verona

Recent operatic productions of Giacomo Puccini’s final work, ‘Turandot’, have highlighted the composer’s complex legacy and the various interpretations of the opera’s unfinished ending.

At the Operafest Lisboa and Oeiras, director Daniela Kerck presented a production at the Mosteiro da Cartuxa in Caxias. This staging, a revival of a 2024 Wiesbaden production, explores the connection between the opera and Puccini’s own life, utilizing a setting that evokes the Italian Riviera where the composer worked.

In Verona, the Arena di Verona hosted a revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s cinematic and extravagant production. While the staging was noted for its visual grandeur and use of color to contrast the imperial court with the populace, critics noted that the production focused more on lavish tableaux than on psychological dramaturgy.