Turandot, the Chinese Princess-Goddess featured in Puccini’s much-loved, Forbidden City located opera, remains one of operas great characters. Indeed, the opera itself boasts operas most instantly recognizable tune in “Ness
Turandot, the Chinese Princess-Goddess featured in Puccini’s much-loved, Forbidden City located opera, remains one of operas great characters. Indeed, the opera itself boasts operas most instantly recognizable tune in “Nessum Dorma”. Yet as a character, Turandot displays traits not unlike the real life Empress Cixi. Did Puccini take inspiration from the infamous Imperial dowager?
Puccini wrote Turandot in the early 1920s, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Although Puccini’s first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller’s adaptation of the 