Turandot by Giacomo Puccini San Francisco Opera, 29 Oct 1993 War Memorial Opera House This lush, grand, romantic Turandot was a perfect opening for our second SF opera triplet weekend. After flying all day from Anchorage, this was a perfect piece to snuggle down into on Friday evening. The stars of this revival production really were the set by David Hockney and staging by Peter McClintock, which combined to produce a richness that transfused the whole production. Hockney's dramatic, architectural sets were modern and slightly abstract but never obscure. They were bathed in rich unnatural colors (lighting by Thomas Munn) and set at stark angles, perfectly framing the larger-than-life events on stage. Act 2 in particular worked well for me, a great sense of depth and perspective. The characters were well coached, always moving with confidence and purpose, always to good effect. Eva Marton sang well, her clear powerful voice filling every scene she sang. Her power was particularly evident in the big Act 2 duet with Calaf, where she overshadowed Vladimir Popov -- yes, the same Popov who so disappointed us in London last year. He was brought on due to illness of Michael Sylvester, the American tenor scheduled to sing the role. I am disapointed to have seen Popov in the role the only two times IÕve seen TurandotÑonce in London, now in San Francisco. Here, as at Covent Garden, I found him a weak performer, although he brightened in the second act and sang a little stronger. The stage direction also allowed him a more dramatic role. His big aira was again underwhelming; again, the audience was cool to his lisping, squishy style. Lucia Mazzaria sang Li in a pure not not powerful voice; she also suffered in contrast to the Covent Garden performer. Interestingly, the use of Ping, Pang and Pong was much more effective in this staging, and I was surprised to see what a difference that made. Where the counsellors were almost slapstick in London, here they were dramatic additions to the story, humorous on occasion but genuine characters as well. They were well sung and acted by Theodore Baerg, Dennis Petersen and Craig Estep. I found the orchestra under Donald Runnicles a bit too loud (I often do) but they played well. The pace seemed very quick to me, a little under 35 minutes for Act 1, but the performance ended on schedule, about three hours. This performance was taped for future telecast, and would be worth having for the sets and staging.