Turandot: Modern Atalanta - Spring 2009

In 1921, Giacomo Puccini began composing an opera which was to be his last.  The story was based on a play by Gozzi, also set by Schiller, which in turn owes much to the Greek archetypal myths of such as Atalanta, Hippodameia, and Thetis.  The archetypes of the reluctant bride, ice princess, femme fatale, and intellectual or athletic woman mix in these myths and plays, and reflect a fascination through time with the unattainably desired woman. Turandot, the princess who kills her spurned lovers, combines