Turandot Turns 99!

April 25, 1926: World Premiere at La Scala in Milan

Turandot is Puccini’s final opera, an imaginative fairy tale set in a mythical China and based on a play by Carlo Gozzi. Known for its striking orchestration and memorable melodies, it was completed posthumously by Franco Alfano after Puccini’s death in 1924.

The libretto was written by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. The opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on April 25, 1926, where conductor Arturo Toscanini famously stopped the performance at the point where Puccini had stopped composing, saying, “Here the composer died.” Subsequent performances have included Alfano’s completed ending.

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