It opens pretty grimly--and not just because of the crowd's bloodlust and the execution offstage. The slave girl Liu says she has been caring for Calaf's father because Calaf had smiled at her. Shortly thereafter, Calaf falls in love at first sight with Turandot. Despite pleas from all around him, he rings the gong to take the deadly riddle challenge.
From a practical point of view (which everybody urges on him) this makes no sense. The risk is very high, and the reward would be to marry a princess who's been trying to get vengeance on all men because of something that happened to an ancestress of hers. That kind of wedded life hardly entices, and given what he is just learning about Liu's feelings for him, he looks cruel as well as crazy.
But he's a prince, and that makes the slave Liu a tragic but impossible lover, and Turandot a worthwhile conquest--princes have to take risks sometimes; perhaps for their kingdom's sake or to prove they're worthy of the job.
And he's also (at least according to Turandot) a hero, and mythic heroes are supposed to accomplish the impossible, like solving impossible riddles and melting the ice princess.
The little problem is that neither aspect is played up at the beginning. He comes across as an ordinary Cal, and USians are not heavily into royalty or mythic heroes much. You've got to cue us. Even our superhero stories seem to prefer clay feet these days. Also the transformation of Turandot needed a little more work--but Puccini died before finishing it. Apparently he was stalled on the transformation problem himself.
Liu is an excellently drawn character, though, and the music is gorgeous. And the set was something to see. Thanks to the Met for making these available!
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