Jonas Kaufmann is a superb Calaf on a disc that holds
up against the opera’s great recordings of the past
Nobody can accuse Antonio Pappano and Warner Classics of
rushing their cycle of Puccini’s operas. It is nearly 30 years
since their release of La Bohème. Since then, the economics of
the record industry mean that a starrily-cast recording of a
grand opera like Turandot, made in the optimum conditions of a
recording studio, has become a rarity.
This opens up
different possibilities. Neither Pappano nor either of the two
principal singers — Sondra Radvanovsky and Jonas Kaufmann — had
ever taken part in a live performance of Turandot in the opera
house, though Pappano is conducting it for the first time in
London right now.
Kaufmann’s presence in the cast will no
doubt be the main selling point. As always, he is superbly
warm-toned and an exceptional musician, if less visceral a Calaf
than some. There are times when he uses the microphone to sing
very softly, and the result can seem rather arty for red-blooded
Italian opera, but he rises proudly to all the big moments.
Radvanovsky has the big guns vocally for the title role,
without the steely edge that can sometimes bedevil it, and
Ermonela Jaho is an extremely vulnerable Liù. Michele Pertusi is
the adequate Timur.
Above all, Pappano conducts the
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with flair,
blazing colour and an ear for detail. This is also the first
recording to include the posthumous completion of the opera by
Franco Alfano in its entirety. There have been some great
recordings of Turandot in the past, but this one does not pale
in the face of the competition.
