Turandot at Savonlinna Opera Festival: a riddle inside an enigma

Matti Turunen (Timur) and Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir

Turandot

Tuuli Takala (Liù), Matti Turunen (Timur) and Amadi Lagha (Calaf)

Ewa Płonka (Turandot)

Einar Dagur Jónsson (Pang)

By Mark Pullinger, 06 July 2025

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“Ping, Pang and Pong, here cane-twirling Chaplinesque manipulators with a taste for the grotesque”

Reviewed at Olavinlinna Castle, Savonlinna on 5 July 2025

Puccini, Turandot

Yves Abel, Conductor

Pet Halmen, Director, Set Designer, Costume Designer, Lighting Designer

Savonlinna Opera Festival Orchestra

Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir

Roman Hovenbitzer, Revival Director

Ewa Płonka, Turandot

Amadi Lagha, Calaf

Tuuli Takala, Liù

Matti Turunen, Timur

Veikko Vallinoja, Emperor Altoum

Waltteri Torikka, Ping

Einar Dagur Jónsson, Pang

Aljaž Žgavc, Pong

Riku Pelo, Mandarin

Savonlinna Opera Festival Children's Choir

Dreams and reality: a brilliant Daphne in Vienna

Ako Imamura, 4th December

The Wiener Staatsoper revives a beautiful production of Daphne that juxtaposes myth, dream and reality, with brilliant vocal performances by the two leads.

****1

Lorbeeren für Vera-Lotte Boecker: Daphne an der Wiener Staatsoper

Snapdragon, 15th September

Vera-Lotte Boecker springt kurzfristig ein – und dominiert den Strauss-Abend am Haus am Ring.

****1

Viennese splendour in Garsington’s Rosenkavalier revival

Roy Westbrook, 28th May

Bruno Ravella's splendid 2021 production of Strauss' opera of Viennese manners returns with a fine cast.

****1

Bang! Mozart's volcano erupts in Opera Holland Park’s Così fan tutte

Peter Quantrill, 28th May

Mount Vesuvius looms over Cecilia Stinton’s compelling new production of Così fan tutte.

****1

Garsington’s new La traviata ticks every musical and dramatic box

David Karlin, 27th May

Music Director Douglas Boyd conducts a performance of exceptional musical quality, and Louisa Muller's uncontroversial but passionate direction makes this Traviata one for the ages.

*****

A witty hotel Don Giovanni opens Blackwater Valley Festival

Andrew Larkin, 27th May

Tom Creed’s witty production at Lismore Castle delivers strong singing, sharp comedy and lively orchestral playing, even if the opera’s darker supernatural edges are somewhat diminished.

****1

More reviews...

Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

A riddle inside an enigma: Turandot at Savonlinna Opera Festival