Celebrate the centennial of the first performance of Puccini’s opera “Turandot” as a rendition with an international flair comes to the Miller Theater Feb. 7.
“Witness the original, unfinished version of Puccini’s opera in an unprecedented production as part of The Four Turandot – T4T, an international project created by the ‘Giuseppe Verdi’ Conservatory of Milan,” according to the Miller Theater website.
Members of the Augusta Symphony orchestra and a local choral ensemble led by Dr. Joel Scraper will join a cast of international singers for Puccini’s “Turandot”.
“Puccini’s final opera is an epic fairy tale set in a China of legend, loosely based on a play by 18th-century Italian dramatist Carlo Gozzi. Featuring a most unusual score with an astounding and innovative use of chorus and orchestra, it is still recognizably Puccini, bursting with instantly appealing melody. The unenviable task of completing the opera’s final scene upon Puccini’s sudden death was left to the composer Franco Alfano. Conductor Arturo Toscanini oversaw Alfano’s contribution and led the world premiere,” the website said.
The performance is part of an international tour going to Italy, China, Korea and the United States with casts of soloists on tour joining local orchestras, involving talents from Milan, Paris, Shanghai, Copenhagen, Vilnius, Hanover, and beyond according to the “Orazio Vecchi – Antonio Tonelli” Conservatory website. The conservatory is one member of the international project.
“T4T compares original and lost versions of ‘Turandot,’ revealing unpublished finales and giving life to a new finale created by composers from the participating Conservatories,” it said.
Puccini died in 1924. The opera premiered on April 25, 1926 in Milan, Italy.
“Turandot” “returns in a new multimedia staging that seeks to reconnect the thread broken in April 1926, when the opera came to a halt at the very point where the composer had left the score unfinished. Since then, the Maestro’s final masterpiece has continued to inspire reflection and fascination among musicians and audiences alike” the Miller Theater website said.
“By 2026, the project aims to present all four versions currently recognized in academic scholarship: the opera as it was left at the composer’s death; the version featuring Franco Alfano’s original finale; the one with Alfano’s second and more widely known finale; and the version that includes the finale composed by Luciano Berio,” the website continued.
The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, go here.
Augusta Good News is an award-winning member of the Georgia Press Association, receiving a second place General Excellence in 2025. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.
