Triumph at Torre del Lago: Puccini Festival – Mills and Eyvazov Enchant in Turandot
The staging of *Turandot* at the 2025 Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago offered a traditional, large-scale interpretation of the Tuscan composer’s final, unfinished opera, making the most of its spectacular lakeside setting. Few opera houses can rival the visual impact of this open-air amphitheatre on the shores of Lake Massaciuccoli, overlooking Puccini’s villa, where the natural backdrop remains an integral part of the overall experience.
American soprano Courtney Ann Mills delivered a masterful portrayal of Turandot. Vocally assured and dramatically focused, she projected the princess’s icy authority in the second act, her upper register ringing with a metallic brilliance, while allowing her timbre to soften as the opera progressed. The well-known challenge of making Turandot’s transformation from implacable avenger to passionate lover convincing was addressed by Signorini through the introduction of two striking visual elements that lent the evolution a measure of plausibility. During Calaf’s famous aria “Nessun dorma,” Mills appeared high atop the walls of the Forbidden City while Yusif Eyvazov sang below, a tableau that underscored the chasm between them while hinting at the first crack in her defenses. Later, Turandot’s gesture of laying her crown upon Liù’s body after the slave girl’s death offered a moment of remorse that deepened her humanity without departing from the production’s traditional framework.
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