Yonghoon Lee

Giacomo Puccini’s final operatic masterpiece, Turandot, is one of the repertory’s most extravagant spectacles. And in the Met’s production, by legendary director Franco Zeffirelli, this tale of an icy Chinese princess and the mysterious prince vying to win her love takes on larger-than-life proportions. This performance, recorded as part of the company’s series of Live in HD cinema transmissions, stars Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in the formidable title role, going head-to-head with tenor Yonghoon Lee as Prince Calàf, who must correctly answer Turandot’s three riddles or forfeit his head. Maestro Marco Armiliato, a veteran of nearly 500 Met performances, takes the podium to lead a stunning cast, which also features soprano Ermonela Jaho as the self-sacrificing Liù and bass-baritone Ferruccio Furlanetto as Calàf’s father, the blind king Timur.

In the court of Princess Turandot, suitors who fail to solve her riddles are brutally killed. But when a mysterious Prince answers correctly, suddenly he holds all the power – and a glorious secret. When life hangs in the balance, can love conquer all?

Soprano Anna Netrebko appears in her highly anticipated Met role debut as Leonora, the tortured heroine who sacrifices her own life for the love of the Gypsy troubadour. Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings Count di Luna, Yonghoon Lee is Manrico in his Met role debut as the title character, Dolora Zajick sings her signature role of the gypsy Azucena, and Štefan Kocán is Ferrando. Marco Armiliato conducts Sir David McVicar’s Goya-inspired production.

A small village in Sicily, Easter Sunday. A despondent Santuzza searches for Turiddu, the man she loves. Before leaving for the army he was in love with Lola. But Santuzza, despite being married to Alfio, has won back Turiddu’s heart...Elīna Garanča and then Elena Zhidkova will lend their voices to the role of the heart-breaking Santuzza.

Live performance from the Opéra de Lyon, July 1 2012. Controversial production by Olivier Py.