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Opera review: Turandot at Covent Garden

This revival is effectively sung and efficiently conducted, but the main point is the staging — a masterclass in theatrical claustrophobia
Colourful trio: Aled Hall as Pang, Michel de Souza as Ping and Pavel Petrov as Pong
Colourful trio: Aled Hall as Pang, Michel de Souza as Ping and Pavel Petrov as Pong
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★★★★☆
There must be people in this show who weren’t born when the Royal Opera first unveiled Andrei Serban’s production of Puccini’s last and most lurid opera. Its 16th revival in 33 years proves two things at least: first, that it is a brilliant match, visually and choreographically, for Puccini’s music; and second, that there must be many operagoers out there who love Turandot far more than I do.

So for those who take pleasure in the spectacle of a sadistic princess and a self-obsessed prince being rewarded with true love for the torture and death of a slave girl, I can recommend this latest revival. It’s effectively sung and efficiently conducted, but the main point is that the vast, brash paraphernalia of Serban’s staging,