Turandot

This fall, New Orleans Opera is certainly giving fans something to sing about. Puccini's Turandot is coming to the Mahalia Jackson stage for two nights only, bringing to life the mysterious riddles and romance along with the rich intonation and intrigue that characterize the master's final work.

Royal courtship is often the subject of high drama, but none more so than Princess Turandot's. The opera opens with a royal decree: any suitor who can answer Turandot's three riddles will have her hand in marriage, but any incorrect answer will result in death. An anonymous prince emerges to take the challenge, and he succeeds, only to turn the game on its head by posing the princess a riddle of his own: his name. Who will win this battle of secrets and seductions, and what, in the end, does it mean to win? The knots of the story are woven by Puccini's dramatic and tonally adventurous score, which includes what is possibly the most famous tenor aria of all time, “Nessun Dorma.” Surely, no one is sleeping during this production.

The New Orleans Opera's mission is to bring opera and all its rich charms to the people of the Crescent City. In addition to its regular acclaimed opera seasons, it also performs the innovative Opera Nouvelle and Opera on Tap series, as well as numerous community outreach events and educational opportunists. Their efforts present opera as an engaging and relevant art form to today's society, and we are all invited to learn from and enjoy its storied tradition.

Turandot will be performed at the Mahalia Jackson Theater on Friday, September 28 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, September 30 at 2:30 pm. $30 and up. neworleansopera.org/turandot.