A 1958 TV movie version of Turandot starring the virtually incomparable tenor Franco Corelli as Calaf. Has some really charming minimalist set design and wild 40 piece costumes. I loved how it’s shot in the bigger scenes almost like the camera is constantly in a POV shot that represents the commoners watching the protagonists.
I’ve never been big on Puccini’s specific tropes and brand of extreme melodrama, but Turandot’s music and melodic writing is strong enough I don’t give a shit. It amazes me that he can take a trite, generally ridiculous story and somehow fit in a scene of just edge of your seat tension. He does it here in the riddle scene and it’s great. This was my first Turandot watch since I worked on it early 2020 and heard it a ridiculous amount of times so it was nice to get back to the thing.
A 1958 TV movie version of Turandot starring the virtually incomparable tenor Franco Corelli as Calaf. Has some really charming minimalist set design and wild 40 piece costumes. I loved how it’s shot in the bigger scenes almost like the camera is constantly in a POV shot that represents the commoners watching the protagonists.
I’ve never been big on Puccini’s specific tropes and brand of extreme melodrama, but Turandot’s music and melodic writing is strong enough I don’t give a shit. It amazes me that he can take a trite, generally ridiculous story and somehow fit in a scene of just edge of your seat tension. He does it here in the riddle scene and it’s great. This was my first Turandot watch since I worked on it early 2020 and heard it a ridiculous amount of times so it was nice to get back to the thing.
