Metropolitan Opera Archives

Puccini's "Turandot" made a welcome return to the Metropolitan's repertory in mid-January, not only for the visual distinctions of Cecil Beaton's colorful decor, but because it brought a promise of Wagner and Strauss to come. That is to say, the return of Birgit Nilsson, whose vocal quality was prime, her command of Puccini's relentlessly demanding writing as effortless and compelling as ever. Rather than being the homogeneous part of a satisfying whole she was when the production was first directed by Leopold Stokowski in 1960, Miss Nilsson - through no fault of her own - was the radiant light of an otherwise clouded panorama. Jess Thomas's first Calaf was creditable to the American tenor's artistic purposes, but without the ringing vibrance or the stylistic sense to suit the circumstance. He looked well, walked well, tried hard; this is not a Puccini voice. Fausto Cleva's conducting was possibly more of a comfort for the singers than Stokowski's had been, but the electric charge his predecessor generated was conspicuously absent.

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