Turandot

• While the story of Turandot is most often associated with Puccini’s final operatic work; however, over a century earlier, Weber experienced this same source material and wrote incidental music for a production of the play in 1809.
• Turandot‘s story originally comes from Persian sources, which were adapted into a play by 18th-century Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi in 1762. Gozzi’s play was later translated into German by Friedrich Schiller in 1804, which provided the version that Weber set music for.
• The most commonly performed movements of Weber’s incidental music today are the overture and the march.
• Listen for – As a unifying musical theme, Weber used a pentatonic “air chinois” from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Dictionnaire de la Musique.¹

Synopsis of Schiller’s play:

Princess Turandot of China is renowned for her beauty and intellect but harbors a disdain for marriage, and Prince Kalaf is determined to win her hand despite the perilous challenge of solving her three riddles. The opening of the play introduces the setting in the outskirts of Beijing and the characters, notably Prince Kalaf and his companion Barak. As they converse, it becomes clear that the kingdom is in turmoil due to Turandot’s cruel challenge to suitors: to answer three riddles or face execution. Barak warns Kalaf of the danger, recounting the gruesome fate of other princes who had attempted to win Turandot’s favor. Meanwhile, Kalaf expresses a powerful resolve to take on the challenge, dismissing the fear of death as he is enamored by the idea of winning the princess. This exposition sets the stage for the ensuing conflict and establishes Kalaf’s determination that may lead either to triumph or tragedy.

Source

1. Georg Predota, “Carl Maria von Weber: Inspired by Turandot,” Interlude (2020), accessed January 3, 2025, https://interlude.hk/carl-maria-von-weber-inspired-by-turandot-overture-and-marches-for-turandot-op-37/.