Tom Moon on Puccini

"Giacomo Puccini's last opera is the story of a frigid princess who beheads suitors who can't answer her three riddles. The plot is ghastly at times; the title character a nasty tyrant. And yet Turandot contains some of the most sweepingly lyrical, arrestingly beautiful music in all of opera. … The title character typically had been played by Wagnerites, singers prone to oversized delivery. [Joan] Sutherland wasn't that—her calling card was finesse. Somehow, though, conductor Zubin Mehta draws an almost animalistic, instinct-driven performance from her. The entire work feels shot full of energy—Mehta gets the singers to attend to the specifics without neglecting the motives (and warped mores) of their characters. Puccini didn't finish Turandot, which some have speculated drew on his own experience (his wife was known to be a cold, jealous type). He had trouble with the resolution of the story, the moment in the third act when Turandot realizes her meanness and becomes a good wife to Calaf. He'd orchestrated the entire work, and made numerous attempts at endings, but was stymied by the final scenes. The opera was finished by Franco Alfano. …" (1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, pp. 620-621).