Turandot

Turandot is about a cold-hearted princess with no desire to marry. One day, however, her strong-willed father tells her that the time has come to choose a husband. She agrees, under one condition. Her condition is that the suitors who come to ask for her hand in marriage must first answer three riddles. If he fails, he must forfiet his life. Thousands of young men die trying to answer her riddles. One day, Calaf, son of Timur, dethroned prince, answers her riddles. She begs and pleads for him to have mercy on her. Finally, he bestows a riddle on the shoulders of the ice princess herself.

"Turandot" is an interesting opera in millions have heard an aria from it, "Nessun Dorma" (a.k.a. Lucianno Pavarotti's encore piece of choice), than have ever seen the opera performed. As for what the story of "Turandot" is about, I know I have heard it from time to time, but all I really ever remember is that it is the opera that is rarely performed but has the aria that Pavarotti loves to do in concert. Fortunately, Marianna Mayer and illustrator Winslow Pels have rectified that deficiency in my knowledge of opera by adapting Puccini's opera into this oversized volume.It turns out that the princess Turandot is not only the most beautiful maiden in Peking but the most coldhearted. The popular theory is that the Moon Goddess put a spell on Turdanot that has frozen her heart. When Turdandot's father insists that she marry, she agrees but on one condition: any suitor must answer three riddles. Failure to do so (you know what is coming) means the suitor will lose his life. Of course, this does not stop a series of young men from risking everything for the change to win the hand of the princess. But then a young prince named Calaf presents himself as a suitor and Turandot asks him the three riddles.I did not really like not getting to hear the riddles until Turandot asks them of Calaf, because I wanted to mull them over and see if I could have kept the princess from having her executioner lop my head off, and that is rather hard to do when the answer is in the next paragraph and appears in italics, fairly leaping off the page at you. However, since Calaf is the one suitor who gets mentioned by name you know he is going to get them right, but that only sets up the really great little twist in the tale as Calaf refuses to marry the princess against her will and asks her a riddle that she must solved to be released from her obligation to marry the him. This telling of "Turandot" has some subtle elements that might not appeal to all readers, but those who like stories with riddles will find this one quite interesting. It turns that the story of Turandot is probably the best-known and oldest of those where a proud princess tests her suitors with riddles, being traced back to the original "Thousand and One Nights." You can also find a variation of the tale by the Brothers Grimm called "The Sea-Hare." The Author's Note in the back of the book also points out that there were lots of other operas written based on the story before Puccini's, which was actually finished after his death in 1924 by Franco Alfano. The illustrations by Pels are done in oil and oil pencil soluble.

This book caught my eye due to the cover illustration. I flipped through only 3 pages before I headed to the check-out counter. (bought in a book store today - online looking for more of Winslow Pels illustration/work). The story is fine, but the illustrations are worth framing - I've never seen such beautiful, sophisticated and graceful illustration in a "child's" book - Please say Winslow sells her artwork elsewhere!

this book caught my eye first due to its gorgeous illustrations. winslow pels depictions of the beautiful yet cruel turnadot and the brave prince are lovely. of course, there is also the dramatic and moving story, which while in a version easy for children to grasp, still communicates the emotions and feelings of the characters. i bought a copy for myself and am now buying one for a friend's baby.