Turandot was my first experience with an opera and I was not disappointed. Despite not being able to understand what the performers said, as they were speaking in Italian, you can still feel the raw emotion they had. Reading the libretto gives you insight into the personalities. This is mostly evident in Turandot’s and Liu’s words. As the ruler, Turandot has an air of superiority to her as the way she speaks is confident and insulting. She is willing to kill any suitor who doesn’t solve her riddles as she is afraid of being controlled by a man and doesn’t show any remorse doing so. Liu on the other hand is the exact opposite, she speaks softly always putting other’s needs first. What’s also interesting about Liu’s words is that she refers herself by her name instead of saying I or me. In many Asian cultures, young girls do this and it may have something to do with the portrayal of innocence. Nathaniel and I discussed that when the opera was over, the one who got the most applause wasn’t the queen but the peasant, because people empathized with how she spoke. Turandot was a gateway into the world of opera and I hope to experience more in the future.
