As the selfless Liù, Crocetto combined elegant phrasing (especially in the lyrical Act 1 aria "Signore, ascolta") with vaunting power. Yet perhaps the biggest excitement of the evening came from soprano Leah Crocetto, an Adler Fellow whose future stardom has never been in doubt. Her big opening aria, "In questa reggia," sounded both shapely and imposing, even as she veered off pitch once or twice her final acquiescence in Act 3 was improbably compelling.Īs Calaf, the Tartar prince who doggedly pursues her hand, tenor Marco Berti displayed a muscular, warm and often beautiful vocal gift along with an almost complete lack of theatrical life.īerti may move and emote like a block of wood, but his singing - not only in the famous "Nessun dorma" but throughout the first two acts as well - was vital and often thrilling. Theorin helped that happen, with a vocally rounded and dramatically responsive performance. It requires us to care about the emotional state of a bloodthirsty tyrant who subjects her many suitors to a life-or-death game of riddles - and to celebrate along with her and her ultimate betrothed as they join hands across the corpse of his faithful servant Liù. That urgency can sometimes be hard to come by in "Turandot," whose dramatic failings are patent even by operatic standards. A strong cast, performing under the impassioned if not always disciplined leadership of music director Nicola Luisotti, conspired to give this production a welcome air of urgency.
And Theorin's performance was only one of a number of impressive turns in an evening that got the season off to a powerful and dramatic start.
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