Turandot
by Giacomo Puccini (1926)
Princess Turandot never wants to belong to a man. To deter her suitors, she has passed a cruel law: Anyone wishing to marry her must first solve three riddles. If he fails to do so, he will be executed. Countless men have already met their deaths in this way. Nevertheless, Prince Calaf is attracted to Turandot. Ignoring the insistent warnings of his father and Liù, who loves him devotedly, he confronts the riddles - and manages to solve them! But instead of taking Turandot as his wife against her will, he now gives her a riddle of his own ...
The composer Giacomo Puccini died in 1924, leaving his last opera Turandot unfinished. Until his death, he was unable to find a musical form for the final love scene between Turandot and Calaf that seemed convincing to him. His score, bursting with emotional power and rich tonal colors, with the goosebump aria "Nessun dorma", nevertheless became world-famous.