There have been some great recordings of Turandot in the past, but this one does not pale in the face of the competition, reads the final sentence of the Financial Times review. The latest studio recording of Turandot, Puccini’s spectacular last opera, marks a number of important firsts: Antonio Pappano had never conducted the work before the March 2022 recording sessions in Rome, and neither Sondra Radvanovsky nor Jonas Kaufmann had sung their parts on stage before. This is also the first recording of Turandot to include the entire final scene, completed by Franco Alfano after Puccini’s death in 1925. Radvanovsky and Kaufmann are joined by Ermonela Jaho (Liù), Michele Pertusi (Timur), Michael Spyres (Altoum), and the chorus & orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. The success of the entire project was confirmed by a concert performance that took place a few days after the recording was completed and received a standing ovation. The recording was recently released by Warner Classics. For the making-of video click here.
Insieme – Jonas Kaufmann & Ludovic Tézier
On stage they’re usually rivals, but in real life Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier share a close friendship. After many live performances together these two extraordinary artists have recorded their first duet album: Insieme, meaning “together” in Italian, to be released October 7 on Sony Classical. Accompanied by the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano, they present duets they’ve sung together on stage, plus works specially chosen for the album.
