Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot), Jonas Kaufmann (Calaf), Ermonela Jaho (Liù), Michele Pertusi (Timur), Michael Spyres (Altoum), Mattia Olivieri (Ping), Gregory Bonfatti (Pang), Siyabonga Maqungo (Pong), Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
Warner Classics · 5419740659 · 2 hours 4 minutes
There’s something genuinely thrilling about hearing Radvanovsky’s steel and Kaufmann’s burnished heroics go head to head in “In questa reggia” and “Nessun dorma” — you get the sense of two singers who understand that Turandot’s icy exterior and Calaf’s obsessive certainty need equal amounts of danger to work. Jaho steals hearts as Liù without ever overplaying the pathos, which is its own kind of achievement given how easily that role tips into sentimentality. Pappano, though, is really the story here: he digs into Puccini’s stranger harmonic corners and percussive orchestration with a clarity that makes this ancient fairy tale feel unsettling again, not just gorgeous.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — March 2023 — Recording of the Month
- Presto Recording of the Week — 10th March 2023
- Opera — April 2023 — Disc of the Month
- Record Review — 18th March 2023 — Record of the Week
“It is the attention Pappano pays to crafting the contrasts between passages of intense sensuality and of mechanistic brutality, casting new light on a familiar score in the process, which really…”
— BBC Music Magazine, May 2023,5 out of 5 stars
Luciano Pavarotti (Calàf), Joan Sutherland (Turandot), Montserrat Caballé (Liù), John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Decca · 4871873
There’s something almost unfair about stacking Pavarotti, Sutherland, and Caballé onto the same cast list, like Puccini’s icy fairy tale suddenly has three suns instead of one. Caballé’s Liù is the real heartbreaker here, all hushed vulnerability against Sutherland’s steel, and Mehta lets the orchestra bloom into full, unapologetic melodrama exactly when the score demands it. If you’ve only ever heard “Nessun dorma” ripped from context, this is the reminder that the whole opera earns that high note, note by note.
Joan Sutherland (Turandot), Luciano Pavarotti (Calaf), Montserrat Caballé (Liù), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Timur), Tom Krause (Ping), Pier Francesco Poli (Pang), Piero De Palma (Pong), Peter Pears (L’imperatore Altoum), Sabin Markov (Un mandarino)London Philharmonic Orchestra, John Alldis Choir, Zubin…
Decca · 4787815 · 1 hour 57 minutes
There’s something almost absurd about the sheer vocal firepower assembled here — Sutherland’s icy precision, Pavarotti in the full bloom of his prime, Caballé pouring out that impossibly plush tone for a servant girl who barely gets a scene to herself. Mehta doesn’t hold anything back either, letting the LPO dig into Puccini’s more astringent, almost Stravinsky-adjacent harmonies before pulling everything back for the big lyrical payoffs. Decades on, it’s still the recording people reach for when they want to hear what “Turandot” sounds like when nobody involved is playing it safe.
Awards:
- Building a Library — First Choice
- Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1970s
“Sutherland gives an intensely appealing interpretation, while Pavarotti gives a performance equally imaginative. Mehta directs a gloriously rich and dramatic performance. Still the best-sounding…”
— Penguin Guide
Jonathan Tetelman (tenor), PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Carlo Rizzi
Deutsche Grammophon · 4864683 · 54 minutes
Tetelman has that rare thing in a Puccini tenor: a voice that sounds genuinely young and dangerous, not just polished. He doesn’t sing every role the same way either — Cavaradossi gets all the warmth and swagger, while Luigi from Il Tabarro comes out edgier and more shadowed, like he’s actually thought about who these men are. Rizzi and the Prague players give him plenty of room to breathe, which is exactly what this repertoire needs — Puccini’s orchestra should feel like it’s exhaling with the singer, not just accompanying him.
Awards:
- BBC Music Magazine — December 2023 — Opera Choice
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalist 2023
- Opus Klassik Awards — 2024 — Nominated – Male Singer of the Year
- Gramophone Awards — 2024 Winners — Voice & Ensemble
“He adopts a nuanced approach to characterisation, bringing a vocally distinctive tone to each role. His Cavaradossi is as languid and heroic as you could wish for; his Luigi edgy and sombre;…”
— BBC Music Magazine, December 2023,5 out of 5 stars
Luciano Pavarotti (Calàf), Joan Sutherland (Turandot), Montserrat Caballé (Liù), John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Decca · 4871872
There’s something almost absurd about the vocal firepower assembled here — three of the biggest voices of the twentieth century, all in one opera, all somehow matched to their roles instead of competing for space. Pavarotti sounds genuinely thrilled to be singing “Nessun dorma” rather than performing a greatest hit, Sutherland brings unexpected warmth to Turandot’s icy edges, and Caballé quietly steals scenes as Liù without ever raising her voice above the drama around her. Mehta keeps the whole thing moving with real theatrical instinct, so the spectacle never buries the story underneath it.
Birgit Nilsson (Princess Turandot), Jussi Björling (Calaf), Renata Tebaldi (Liù), Mario Sereni (Ping), Piero De Palma (Pang), Tommaso Frascati (Pong), Giorgio Tozzi (Timur) & Alessio De Paolis (Emperor Altoum)Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Erich Leinsdorf
Alto · ALC2021
Nilsson’s ice-queen Turandot is the whole point of this recording — that voice cuts through Puccini’s biggest orchestral climaxes like nothing’s even trying, and you finally understand why “In questa reggia” needs someone with that kind of steel. Björling brings a warmth to Calaf that plays beautifully against her, and Tebaldi’s Liù is heartbreaking precisely because she sounds so fragile by comparison. Leinsdorf keeps the whole thing moving with real dramatic urgency, never letting the spectacle overwhelm the actual story underneath it.
Awards:
- Grammy Awards — 3rd Awards (1960) — Best Opera Recording
Anna Netrebko (Turandot), Yusif Eyvazov (Calaf), Maria Teresa Leva (Liù), Ferruccio Furlanetto (Timur)Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona, Marco Armiliato, Franco Zeffirelli
C Major · 769704
Turandot practically demands the kind of spectacle Verona throws at it, and the old Zeffirelli production still delivers that jaw-dropping ancient-China scale even decades on. Netrebko in the title role is the real event here, all steel and simmering menace until that final thaw, and she sounds genuinely thrilling against the sheer size of the Arena forces. Furlanetto’s Timur, meanwhile, brings a weathered gravity that grounds all the pageantry in something quietly human.
“This Verona account is from the 2022 festival and the big draw is Anna Netrebko in the title-role (a role she sings at Covent Garden next season). She’s very good. In an ice-blue gown, sporting…”
— Gramophone Magazine, August 2025
Birgit Nilsson, Giorgio Tozzi, Jussi Bjorling, Piero de PalmaRome Opera Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf
BMG · 09026626872 · 1 hour 54 minutes
Nilsson’s Turandot on this recording is basically ice with a voice — she cuts through the orchestra like she’s daring anyone to answer her riddles, and then Björling shows up as Calaf with that warm, unshakeable tone that makes you understand why he’d risk his neck for her anyway. Leinsdorf keeps the Rome forces tight and dramatic without ever letting the score’s sheer scale swallow the singers, which is no small feat in an opera this gorgeously overstuffed. Sixty-plus years on, it’s still the recording people reach for when they want to hear what these two voices sound like at full, thrilling power.
Awards:
- Grammy Awards — 3rd Awards (1960) — Best Opera Recording
