Turandot review – Opera Holland Park celebrate 30 years with Puccini’s grand guignol

Opera Holland Park, London
A concert performance in an orchestral reduction of Puccini’s colossal final opera was stylishly led by conductor Naomi Woo with José de Eça’s Calaf heading a strong cast

It always lifts the spirits when the little company that could, does. Over the last 30 years, Puccini has been a mainstay of Opera Holland Park’s artistic vision with, in recent years, notable stagings of Le Villi and Edgar. Now it’s the turn of Turandot, the only one of the composer’s works to elude them thus far, with three concert stagings in the opera’s centenary year.

Calling for colossal forces, it’s not surprising smaller companies give it a miss. Nevertheless, Tony Burke’s orchestral reduction proved more than adequate to express the sonic grandeur of Puccini’s score. All the required exotic percussion was on display with sufficient brass lending punch and panache. Only the Mandarin’s opening xylophone and a feeble electric organ let things down, a minor quibble considering the classy performance of the City of London Sinfonia’s 41 players under the stylish baton of Naomi Woo. Her fluid interpretation packed the necessary punch while finding felicitous details sometimes buried in the full orchestration.
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