Turandot is one of Puccini’s most fascinating operas. With sumptuous music and eye-popping spectacle, it tells the story of a beautiful, powerful princess and her transformation. It is an opera with many complications, including the fact that Puccini died before he was able to complete it. (Today, it is most often performed with an ending by Franco Alfano.) For Washington National Opera’s new production, the company has commissioned a new ending by Grammy Award–winning composer Christopher Tin and playwright and screenwriter Susan Soon He Stanton. It will premiere in May 2024 at the Kennedy Center. Francesca Zambello, Artistic Director of Washington National Opera, will be joined by Soon He Stanton and Tin to discuss the making of a Turandot for our time: a portrait of a strong woman who overcomes a traumatic past, an experience that leads to the fall of tyranny and the rise of democracy. Singers will perform highlights.

Turandot. Courtesy Washington National Opera