Turandot

Susan Soon He Stanton

Major roles: S,T; minor role: 3T,Bar
chorus: SSAATTBB
3(I,II=picc).2.corA.2.bcl.2.dbn-4.3.3.0.cimbasso-timp.perc(5):tgl/snare dr/BD/cyms/tam-t/Chin gongs/glsp/wdbl/xyl/bass xyl/chimes-2harp-cel-org-strings(12.10.8.6.4)
banda: 0.0.0.2asax.0-0.6.3.btrbn.0-perc(1):wood dr/gong

Wall Street Journal
"The new final scene ... fits the opera neatly. Its sound and attitude, while contemporary, grow organically from Puccini’s original, like a savvy modern addition on a historic building."

Washington Post
“Washington National Opera’s new ‘Turandot’ gets a refreshing finale.”
“Tin’s splendid musical additions ... draw sensibly from Puccini’s score while applying an entirely new emotional finish”

DC Theater Arts
“Tin’s music is muscular and modern without losing satisfying, even gorgeous melodic lines.”
“This was indeed a powerful evening of grand opera.”

OperaGene
“a job well done, interesting in orchestration, pleasing to the ear, and working well coupled to the vocals containing the new libretto”
“The new production with a new ending successfully achieved its goals.”

BroadwayWorld
“enticing music of composer Christopher Tin”
“swirling and soaring music”

Reaction
"Is this new ending any good? Yes, it was brilliant, addressing many of Alfano’s inadequacies. ... it is a work that will stay the course."
"Tin’s score is exceptional ... Tin is a master of musical embroidery and subtle Puccini references abound, connecting the final scene convincingly to what goes before. It is difficult to spot the join."

In 2018 I received an email from Francesca Zambello, Artistic Director of Washington National Opera. She had heard my theme to Civilization VI "Sogno di Volare" coming from her son's bedroom, and upon learning about the rest of my music, reached out to me with an invitation to meet. I flew up to San Francisco, where she was directing the Ring Cycle, and we discussed my possible entry into the opera world.

For the next few months we traded ideas on what I might write an opera about, and one idea in particular interested me: she said that she'd always been interested in commissioning a new ending to Puccini's final opera "Turandot", which had been left unfinished at the time of his death. I immediately gravitated towards that idea.

Thus began the most daunting commission of my entire career--how to fill Giacomo Puccini's shoes, when so many other composers before me had failed to complete the opera in a satisfactory fashion?

I spent many years studying Turandot and Puccini's leftover sketches, as well as the endings written by my predecessors. And ultimately I devised a way to compose the ending that was true to my own voice, but incorporated both the earlier themes from the completed opera, as well as selected sketches that he left on his deathbed.

I was also paired with an ingenious librettist: Susan Soon He Stanton, who was also a newcomer to opera, but had recently made her name as a writer/producer on the HBO show "Succession". Susan came up with some very clever plot devices that allowed us to wrap up the previously unsolvable riddle of Turandot's transformation from cruel princess to merciful ruler.

The production premiered at the Kennedy Center in 2024, and was both a commercial and critical hit. The entire run sold out prior to opening night, and the critical reviews lauded the production and the music. The Wall Street Journal declared that 'Its sound and attitude, while contemporary, grow organically from Puccini's original, like a savvy modern addition on a historic building.' The Washington Post proclaimed 'Even without the new ending--and Tin's splendid musical additions, which draw sensibly from Puccini's score while applying an entirely new emotional finish--Zambello's "Turandot" crackles with fresh energy and some truly extraordinary singing.'

And to cap off the success of the run, the Kennedy Center organized a groundbreaking event prior to opening night, called the 'Christopher Tin Sing In'. Working together with the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra and soloists Colleen Daly and Carl Tanner, we held a free event on the Kennedy Center stage where we invited the greater Washington DC public to come and sing my two most famous video game themes ("Baba Yetu" and "Sogno di Volare"), and then to learn my new choral finale to Turandot. We then held a mini-concert where the attendees were the chorus, and together, we gave the "world premiere" of my new ending. A video of the event, posted above, went viral on social media.

Christopher Tin - 2024