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Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly) is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.

It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther Long, which in turn was based on stories told to Long by his sister Jennie Correll and on the semi-autobiographical 1887 French novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti. Long's version was dramatized by David Belasco as the one-act play Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan, which, after premiering in New York in 1900, moved to London, where Puccini saw it in the summer of that year.

The original version of the opera, in two acts, had its premiere on 17 February 1904 at La Scala in Milan. It was poorly received, despite having such notable singers as soprano Rosina Storchio, tenor Giovanni Zenatello and baritone Giuseppe De Luca in lead roles. This was due in part to a late completion by Puccini, which gave inadequate time for rehearsals. Puccini revised the opera, splitting the second act in two, with the Humming Chorus as a bridge to what became Act III, and making other changes. Success ensued, starting with the first performance on 28 May 1904 in Brescia.

Versions
Puccini wrote five versions of the opera. The original two-act version, which was presented at the world premiere at La Scala on 17 February 1904, was withdrawn after the disastrous premiere. Puccini then substantially rewrote it, this time in three acts. This second version was performed on 28 May 1904 in Brescia, where it was a great success, with Solomiya Krushelnytska as Cio-Cio-san. It was this second version that premiered in the United States in 1906, first in Washington, D.C., in October, and then in New York in November, performed by Henry Savage's New English Opera Company (so named because it performed in English-language translations).

In 1906, Puccini wrote a third version, which was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 11 February 1907. Later that year, Puccini made several changes in the orchestral and vocal scores, and this became the fourth version.

Again in 1907, Puccini made his final revisions to the opera in a fifth version, which has become known as the "Standard Version" and is the one which is most often performed today. However, the original 1904 version is occasionally performed, such as for the opening of La Scala's 2016–17 season, on 7 December 2016, with Riccardo Chailly conducting.

Performance history
Premieres of versions of Madama Butterfly in major opera houses throughout the world include the Teatro de la Opera de Buenos Aires on 2 July 1904, under Arturo Toscanini, this being the first performance in the world outside Italy. Its first performance in Britain was in London on 10 July 1905 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, while the first US performance was presented in English on 15 October 1906, in Washington, D.C., at the Columbia Theater. The first performance in New York took place on 12 November of the same year at the Garden Theatre. The Metropolitan Opera first performed the opera on 11 February 1907 under the supervision of the composer with Geraldine Farrar as Cio-Cio-San, Enrico Caruso as Pinkerton, Louise Homer as Suzuki, Antonio Scotti as Sharpless, with Arturo Vigna conducting; Madama Butterfly has since been heard virtually every season at the Met except for a hiatus during World War II from 1942 through 1945 due to the hostilities between the United States and Japan. The first Australian performance was presented at the Theatre Royal in Sydney on 26 March 1910, starring Amy Eliza Castles.

Between 1915 and 1920, Japan's best-known opera singer Tamaki Miura won international fame for her performances as Cio-Cio-San. A memorial to this singer, along with one to Puccini, can be found in the Glover Garden in the port city of Nagasaki, where the opera is set.

Act 1

In 1904, a U.S. naval officer named Pinkerton rents a house on a hill in Nagasaki, Japan, for himself and his soon-to-be wife, "Butterfly". Her real name is Cio-Cio-San (from the Japanese word for "butterfly" (蝶々); -san is a plain honorific). She is a 15-year-old Japanese girl whom he is marrying for convenience, and he intends to leave her once he finds a proper American wife, since Japanese divorce laws are very lax. The wedding is to take place at the house. Butterfly had been so excited to marry an American that she had earlier secretly converted to Christianity. After the wedding ceremony, her uninvited uncle, a bonze, who has found out about her conversion, comes to the house, curses her and orders all the guests to leave, which they do while renouncing her. Pinkerton and Butterfly sing a love duet and prepare to spend their first night together.

Act 2

Three years later, Butterfly is still waiting for Pinkerton to return, as he had left shortly after their wedding. Her maid Suzuki keeps trying to convince her that he is not coming back, but Butterfly does not believe her. Goro, the marriage broker who arranged her marriage, keeps trying to marry her off again, but she does not listen to him either. The American consul, Sharpless, comes to the house with a letter which he has received from Pinkerton which asks him to break some news to Butterfly: that Pinkerton is coming back to Japan, but Sharpless cannot bring himself to finish it because Butterfly becomes very excited to hear that Pinkerton is coming back. Sharpless asks Butterfly what she would do if Pinkerton were not to return. She then reveals that she gave birth to Pinkerton's son after he had left and asks Sharpless to tell him.

From the hill house, Butterfly sees Pinkerton's ship arriving in the harbour. She and Suzuki prepare for his arrival, and then they wait. Suzuki and the child fall asleep, but Butterfly stays up all night waiting for him to arrive.

Act 3
Suzuki wakes up in the morning and Butterfly finally falls asleep. Sharpless and Pinkerton arrive at the house, along with Pinkerton's new American wife, Kate. They have come because Kate has agreed to raise the child. But, as Pinkerton sees how Butterfly has decorated the house for his return, he realizes he has made a huge mistake. He admits that he is a coward and cannot face her, leaving Suzuki, Sharpless, and Kate to break the news to Butterfly. Agreeing to give up her child if Pinkerton comes himself to see her, she then prays to statues of her ancestral gods, says goodbye to her son, and blindfolds him. She places a small American flag in his hands and goes behind a screen, stabbing herself with her father's seppuku knife. Pinkerton rushes in, but he is too late, and Butterfly dies.

Act 1

 * 1. Orchestral prelude.
 * 2. E soffitto e pareti ("And ceiling and walls").
 * 3. Dovunque al mondo ("Throughout the world").
 * 4. Amore o grillo ("Love or fancy").
 * 5. Ancora un passo ("One step more").
 * 6. Gran ventura ("May good fortune attend you").
 * 7. L'Imperial Commissario ("The Imperial Commissioner").
 * 8. Vieni, amor mio! ("Come, my love!").
 * 9. Ieri son salita tutta sola ("Yesterday, I went all alone").
 * 10. Tutti zitti ("Quiet everyone").
 * 11. Madama Butterfly.
 * 12. Cio-Cio-san!.
 * 13. Bimba, Bimba, non piangere ("Sweetheart, sweetheart, do not weep").
 * 13A. Viene la sera ("Night is falling").
 * 14. Bimba dagli occhi ("Sweetheart, with eyes..."). (The long duet continues.)
 * 15. Vogliatemi bene ("Love me, please.").

Act 2

 * 16. E Izaghi ed Izanami ("And Izanagi and Izanami").
 * 17. Un bel dì, vedremo ("One fine day we shall see").
 * 18. C'e. Entrate. ("She is there. Go in.").
 * 19. Yamadori, ancor le pene ("Yamadori, are you not yet...").
 * 20. Ora a noi. ("Now for us.").
 * 21. Due cose potrei far ("Two things I could do").
 * 22. Ah! M'ha scordata? ("Ah! He has forgotten me?").
 * 23. Io scendo al piano. ("I will go now.")
 * 24. Il cannone del porto! ("The cannon at the harbor!", often known as The Flower Duet).
 * 25. Tutti i fior? ("All the flowers?").
 * 26. Or vienmi ad adornar ("Now come to adorn me").
 * 27. Coro a bocca chiusa ("Humming Chorus").

Act 3

 * 28. Oh eh! Oh eh! ("Heave-ho! Heave-ho!").
 * 29. Già il sole! ("The Sun's come up!").
 * 30. Io so che alle sue pene ("I know that her pain").
 * 31. Addio, fiorito asil ("Farewell, flowery refuge").
 * 32. Suzuki! Suzuki! ("Suzuki! Suzuki!").
 * 33. Come una mosca ("Like a little fly").
 * 34. Con onor muore ("To die with honor").
 * 35. Tu? Tu? Piccolo iddio! ("You? You? My little god!").

Instrumentation
Madama Butterfly is scored for three flutes (the third doubling piccolo); two oboes, English horn; two clarinets in B-flat; bass clarinet in B-flat, two bassoons; four French horns in F; three trumpets in F; three tenor trombones; bass trombone; a percussion section with timpani, cymbals, triangle, snare drum, bass drum, bells, tam-tam, Japanese gong, and 4 "Japanese Bells"; keyboard glockenspiel; onstage "little bell"; onstage tubular bells; onstage viola d'amore; onstage bird whistles; onstage tam-tam; onstage bass tam-tam; harp; and strings.

Reception
The premiere in Milan was a fiasco, as Puccini's sister, Ramelde, wrote in a letter to her husband:

"At two o'clock we went to bed and I can't sleep one bit; and to say that we were all so sure! Giacomo, poor thing, we never saw him because we couldn't go on the stage. We got to the end of it and I don't know how. The second act I didn't hear at all, and before the opera was over, we ran out of the theater."

Called "one of the most terrible flops in Italian opera history", the premiere was beset by several bad staging decisions, including the lack of an intermission during the second act. Worst of all was the idea to give audience plants nightingale whistles to deepen the sense of sunrise in the final scene. The audience took the noise as a cue to make their own animal noises.

Madama Butterfly has been criticized by some American intellectuals for orientalism. Despite these opinions, Madama Butterfly has been successfully performed in Japan in various adaptions from 1914.

Today Madama Butterfly is the sixth most performed opera in the world and considered a masterpiece, with Puccini's orchestration praised as limpid, fluent and refined.

Adaptations

 * 1915: A silent film version was directed by Sidney Olcott and starred Mary Pickford.
 * 1919: A silent (tinted) film version (titled Harakiri) directed by Fritz Lang and starring Paul Biensfeldt, Lil Dagover, Georg John and Niels Prien.
 * 1922: A silent color film, The Toll of the Sea, based on the opera/play was released. This movie, which starred Anna May Wong in her first leading role, moved the storyline to China. It was the second two-color Technicolor motion picture ever released and the first film made using Technicolor Process 2.
 * 1931: Concise Chōchō-san by the Takarazuka Revue
 * 1932: Madame Butterfly, a non-singing drama (with ample portions of Puccini's score in the musical underscoring) made by Paramount starring Sylvia Sidney and Cary Grant in black & white.
 * 1940: Ochō Fujin no Gensō (お蝶夫人の幻想) "Madame Butterfly's Illusion", a 12-minute Japanese silhouette animation film.
 * 1954: Madame Butterfly, a screen adaptation of the opera, directed by Carmine Gallone jointly produced by Italy's Cineriz and Japan's Toho. The film was shot in Technicolor at Cinecittà in Rome, Italy. Starring Japanese actress Kaoru Yachigusa as Cio-Cio San and Italian tenor Nicola Filacuridi as Pinkerton, and with Japanese actors and Italian actors, dubbed by Italian opera singers.
 * 1965: Sao Krua Fah, a 16 mm Thai film starred by Mitr Chaibancha and Pisamai Wilaisak.
 * 1974: Madama Butterfly, a German television adaptation of the opera starring Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo, directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.
 * 1988: The play M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang is partially based on Madama Butterfly as well as the story of French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and the Beijing opera singer Shi Pei Pu.
 * 1989: Miss Saigon, a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, is inspired by the opera, focusing on a doomed romance between an American Marine and a Vietnamese bargirl and transporting the action to the end and aftermath of the Vietnam War.
 * 1995: Frédéric Mitterrand directed a film version of the opera, Madame Butterfly, in Tunisia, North Africa, starring Richard Troxell and Chinese singer Ying Huang in the lead roles.
 * 1995: Australian choreographer Stanton Welch created a ballet, inspired by the opera, for The Australian Ballet.
 * 1996: The album Pinkerton by the rock band Weezer was based loosely on the opera.
 * 2004: On the 100th anniversary of Madama Butterfly, Shigeaki Saegusa composed Jr. Butterfly to a libretto by Masahiko Shimada.
 * 2011: Cho cho san, Japanese novel, and TV drama series based on the novel, written by Shinichi Ichikawa. Based on the original opera, the story depicts the sorrowful love and turbulent life of a samurai's daughter who loses her parents at a young age and becomes the apprentice of a geisha, set in the early Meiji era in Nagasaki, Japan. Starring Japanese actress Aoi Miyazaki as Cho Ito (Cho cho san).
 * 2013: Cho Cho, musical drama by Daniel Keene, music by Cheng Jin, set in 1930s Shanghai.
 * 2021: Mariposa, an operatic dance-drama set in post-revolution Cuba where a local rent boy and a foreign sailor fall in love.

title: Madama Butterfly


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Wind tunnel

Wind tunnels are machines in which objects are held stationary inside a tube, and air is blown around it to study the interaction between the object and the moving air. They are used to test the aerodynamic effects of aircraft, rockets, cars, and buildings. Different wind tunnels range in size from less than a foot across, to over 100 ft, and can have air that moves at speeds from a light breeze to hypersonic velocities.

Usually, large fans move air through the wind tunnel, while the object being tested is held stationary. The object can be an aerodynamic test object such as a cylinder or an airfoil, an individual component of an aircraft, a small model of the vehicle, or, in the largest tunnels, even a full-sized vehicle. Different measurements can be taken from these tests. The aerodynamic forces on the entire object can be measured, or on individual components of it. The air pressure at different points can be measured with sensors. Smoke can be introduced into the airstream to show the path that air takes around the object. Or, small threads can be attached to specific parts to show the airflow at those points.

The earliest wind tunnels were invented towards the end of the 19th century, in the early days of aeronautical research, as part of the effort to develop heavier-than-air flying machines. The wind tunnel reversed the usual situation. Instead of the air standing still and an aircraft moving, an object would be held still and the air moved around it. In this way, a stationary observer could study the flying object in action, and could measure the aerodynamic forces acting on it.

The development of wind tunnels accompanied the development of the airplane. Large wind tunnels were built during World War II, and as supersonic aircraft were developed, supersonic wind tunnels were constructed to test them. Wind tunnel testing was considered of strategic importance during the Cold War for development of aircraft and missiles.

Other problems are also studied with wind tunnels. The effects of wind on man-made structures need to be studied when buildings became tall enough to be significantly affected by the wind. Very tall buildings present large surfaces to the wind, and the resulting forces have to be resisted by the building's internal structure or else the building will collapse. Determining such forces was required before building codes could specify the required strength of such buildings and these tests continue to be used for large or unusual buildings.

Wind tunnel testing was first applied to automobiles as early as the 1920s, on cars such as the Rumpler Tropfenwagen, and later the Chrysler Airflow. Initially, automakers would test out scale models of their cars, but later, full scale automotive wind tunnels were built. Starting in the 1960s, wind tunnel testing began to receive widespread adoption for automobiles, not so much to determine aerodynamic forces in the same way as an airplane, but to increase the fuel efficiency of vehicles by reducing the aerodynamic drag. In these studies, the interaction between the road and the vehicle plays a significant role, and this interaction must be taken into consideration when interpreting the test results. In the real world, the vehicle is moving while the road and air are stationary. In a wind tunnel test, the road must also be moved past a vehicle along with air being blown around it. This has been accomplished with moving belts under the test vehicle to simulate the moving road, and very similar devices are used in wind tunnel testing of aircraft take-off and landing configurations.

Sporting equipment has also studied in wind tunnels, including golf clubs, golf balls, bobsleds, cyclists, and race car helmets. Helmet aerodynamics is particularly important in open cockpit race cars such as Indycar and Formula One. Excessive lift forces on the helmet can cause considerable neck strain on the driver, and flow separation on the back side of the helmet can cause turbulent buffeting and thus blurred vision for the driver at high speeds.

The advances in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling on high-speed digital computers has reduced the demand for wind tunnel testing, but has not completely eliminated it. Many real-world problems can still not be modeled accurately enough by CFD to eliminate the need for physical tests in wind tunnels.

Measurement of aerodynamic forces
Air velocity and pressures are measured in several ways in wind tunnels.

Air velocity through the test section is determined by Bernoulli's principle. Measurement of the dynamic pressure, the static pressure, and (for compressible flow only) the temperature rise in the airflow. The direction of airflow around a model can be determined by tufts of yarn attached to the aerodynamic surfaces. The direction of airflow approaching a surface can be visualized by mounting threads in the airflow ahead of and aft of the test model. Smoke or bubbles of liquid can be introduced into the airflow upstream of the test model, and their path around the model can be photographed (see particle image velocimetry).

Aerodynamic forces on the test model are usually measured with beam balances, connected to the test model with beams, strings, or cables.

The pressure distributions across the test model have historically been measured by drilling many small holes along the airflow path, and using multi-tube manometers to measure the pressure at each hole. Pressure distributions can more conveniently be measured by the use of pressure-sensitive paint, in which higher local pressure is indicated by lowered fluorescence of the paint at that point. Pressure distributions can also be conveniently measured by the use of pressure-sensitive pressure belts, a recent development in which multiple ultra-miniaturized pressure sensor modules are integrated into a flexible strip. The strip is attached to the aerodynamic surface with tape, and it sends signals depicting the pressure distribution along its surface.

Pressure distributions on a test model can also be determined by performing a wake survey, in which either a single pitot tube is used to obtain multiple readings downstream of the test model, or a multiple-tube manometer is mounted downstream and all its readings are taken.

The aerodynamic properties of an object can not all remain the same for a scaled model. However, by observing certain similarity rules, a very satisfactory correspondence between the aerodynamic properties of a scaled model and a full-size object can be achieved. The choice of similarity parameters depends on the purpose of the test, but the most important conditions to satisfy are usually:

 * Geometric similarity: all dimensions of the object must be proportionally scaled.
 * Mach number: the ratio of the airspeed to the speed of sound should be identical for the scaled model and the actual object (having identical Mach number in a wind tunnel and around the actual object is not equal to having identical airspeeds).
 * Reynolds number: the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces should be kept. This parameter is difficult to satisfy with a scaled model and has led to development of pressurized and cryogenic wind tunnels in which the viscosity of the working fluid can be greatly changed to compensate for the reduced scale of the model.

In certain particular test cases, other similarity parameters must be satisfied, such as e.g. Froude number.

Origins
English military engineer and mathematician Benjamin Robins (1707–1751) invented a whirling arm apparatus to determine drag and did some of the first experiments in aviation theory.

Sir George Cayley (1773–1857) also used a whirling arm to measure the drag and lift of various airfoils. His whirling arm was 5 ft long and attained top speeds between 10 and 20 feet per second (3 to 6 m/s).

Otto Lilienthal used a rotating arm to accurately measure wing airfoils with varying angles of attack, establishing their lift-to-drag ratio polar diagrams, but was lacking the notions of induced drag and Reynolds numbers.

However, the whirling arm does not produce a reliable flow of air impacting the test shape at a normal incidence. Centrifugal forces and the fact that the object is moving in its own wake mean that detailed examination of the airflow is difficult. Francis Herbert Wenham (1824–1908), a Council Member of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, addressed these issues by inventing, designing and operating the first enclosed wind tunnel in 1871. Once this breakthrough had been achieved, detailed technical data was rapidly extracted by the use of this tool. Wenham and his colleague John Browning are credited with many fundamental discoveries, including the measurement of l/d ratios, and the revelation of the beneficial effects of a high aspect ratio.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky built an open-section wind tunnel with a centrifugal blower in 1897, and determined the drag coefficients of flat plates, cylinders and spheres.

Danish inventor Poul la Cour applied wind tunnels in his process of developing and refining the technology of wind turbines in the early 1890s. Carl Rickard Nyberg used a wind tunnel when designing his Flugan from 1897 and onwards.

In a classic set of experiments, the Englishman Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912) of the University of Manchester demonstrated that the airflow pattern over a scale model would be the same for the full-scale vehicle if a certain flow parameter were the same in both cases. This factor, now known as the Reynolds number, is a basic parameter in the description of all fluid-flow situations, including the shapes of flow patterns, the ease of heat transfer, and the onset of turbulence. This comprises the central scientific justification for the use of models in wind tunnels to simulate real-life phenomena. However, there are limitations on conditions in which dynamic similarity is based upon the Reynolds number alone.

The Wright brothers' use of a simple wind tunnel in 1901 to study the effects of airflow over various shapes while developing their Wright Flyer was in some ways revolutionary. It can be seen from the above, however, that they were simply using the accepted technology of the day, though this was not yet a common technology in America.

In France, Gustave Eiffel (1832–1923) built his first open-return wind tunnel in 1909, powered by a 50 kW electric motor, at Champs-de-Mars, near the foot of the tower that bears his name.

Between 1909 and 1912 Eiffel ran about 4,000 tests in his wind tunnel, and his systematic experimentation set new standards for aeronautical research. In 1912 Eiffel's laboratory was moved to Auteuil, a suburb of Paris, where his wind tunnel with a two-metre test section is still operational today. Eiffel significantly improved the efficiency of the open-return wind tunnel by enclosing the test section in a chamber, designing a flared inlet with a honeycomb flow straightener and adding a diffuser between the test section and the fan located at the downstream end of the diffuser; this was an arrangement followed by a number of wind tunnels later built; in fact the open-return low-speed wind tunnel is often called the Eiffel-type wind tunnel.

Widespread usage

Subsequent use of wind tunnels proliferated as the science of aerodynamics and discipline of aeronautical engineering were established and air travel and power were developed.

The US Navy in 1916 built one of the largest wind tunnels in the world at that time at the Washington Navy Yard. The inlet was almost 11 ft in diameter and the discharge part was 7 ft in diameter. A 500 hp electric motor drove the paddle type fan blades.

In 1931 the NACA built a 30 by full-scale wind tunnel at Langley Research Center in Langley, Virginia. The tunnel was powered by a pair of fans driven by 4000 hp electric motors. The layout was a double-return, closed-loop format and could accommodate many full-size real aircraft as well as scale models. The tunnel was eventually closed and, even though it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1995, demolition began in 2010.

Until World War II, the world's largest wind tunnel, built in 1932–1934, was located in a suburb of Paris, Chalais-Meudon, France. It was designed to test full-size aircraft and had six large fans driven by high powered electric motors. The Chalais-Meudon wind tunnel was used by ONERA under the name S1Ch until 1976 in the development of, e.g., the Caravelle and Concorde airplanes. Today, this wind tunnel is preserved as a national monument.

Ludwig Prandtl was Theodore von Kármán's teacher at Göttingen University and suggested the construction of a wind tunnel for tests of airships they were designing. The vortex street of turbulence downstream of a cylinder was tested in the tunnel. When he later moved to Aachen University he recalled use of this facility:

"I remembered the wind tunnel in Göttingen was started as a tool for studies of Zeppelin behavior, but that it had proven to be valuable for everything else from determining the direction of smoke from a ship's stack, to whether a given airplane would fly. Progress at Aachen, I felt, would be virtually impossible without a good wind tunnel."

When von Kármán began to consult with Caltech he worked with Clark Millikan and Arthur L. Klein. He objected to their design and insisted on a return flow making the device "independent of the fluctuations of the outside atmosphere". It was completed in 1930 and used for Northrop Alpha testing.

In 1939 General Arnold asked what was required to advance the USAF, and von Kármán answered, "The first step is to build the right wind tunnel." On the other hand, after the successes of the Bell X-2 and prospect of more advanced research, he wrote, "I was in favor of constructing such a plane because I have never believed that you can get all the answers out of a wind tunnel."

World War II
In 1941 the US constructed one of the largest wind tunnels at that time at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. This wind tunnel starts at 45 ft and narrows to 20 ft in diameter. Two 40 ft fans were driven by a 40,000 hp electric motor. Large scale aircraft models could be tested at air speeds of 400 mph.

During WWII, Germany developed different designs of large wind tunnels to further their knowledge of aeronautics. For example, the wind tunnel at Peenemünde was a novel wind tunnel design that allowed for high-speed airflow research, but brought several design challenges regarding constructing a high-speed wind tunnel at scale. However, it successfully used some large natural caves which were increased in size by excavation and then sealed to store large volumes of air which could then be routed through the wind tunnels. By the end of the war, Germany had at least three different supersonic wind tunnels, with one capable of Mach 4.4 (heated) airflows.

A large wind tunnel under construction near Oetztal, Austria would have had two fans directly driven by two 50,000 horsepower hydraulic turbines. The installation was not completed by the end of the war and the dismantled equipment was shipped to Modane, France in 1946 where it was re-erected and is still operated there by the ONERA. With its 8 m test section and airspeed up to Mach 1, it is the largest transonic wind tunnel facility in the world.

On 22 June 1942, Curtiss-Wright financed construction of one of the nation's largest subsonic wind tunnels in Buffalo, NY. The first concrete for building was poured on 22 June 1942 on a site that eventually would become Calspan, where the wind tunnel still operates.

By the end of World War II, the US had built eight new wind tunnels, including the largest one in the world at Moffett Field near Sunnyvale, California, which was designed to test full size aircraft at speeds of less than 250 mph and a vertical wind tunnel at Wright Field, Ohio, where the wind stream is upwards for the testing of models in spin situations and the concepts and engineering designs for the first primitive helicopters flown in the US.

After World War II
Later research into airflows near or above the speed of sound used a related approach. Metal pressure chambers were used to store high-pressure air which was then accelerated through a nozzle designed to provide supersonic flow. The observation or instrumentation chamber ("test section") was then placed at the proper location in the throat or nozzle for the desired airspeed. In the United States, concern over the lagging of American research facilities compared to those built by the Germans led to the Unitary Wind Tunnel Plan Act of 1949, which authorized expenditure to construct new wind tunnels at universities and at military sites. Some German war-time wind tunnels were dismantled for shipment to the United States as part of the plan to exploit German technology developments.

For limited applications, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can supplement or possibly replace the use of wind tunnels. For example, the experimental rocket plane SpaceShipOne was designed without any use of wind tunnels. However, on one test, flight threads were attached to the surface of the wings, performing a wind tunnel type of test during an actual flight in order to refine the computational model. Where external turbulent flow is present, CFD is not practical due to limitations in present-day computing resources. For example, an area that is still much too complex for the use of CFD is determining the effects of flow on and around structures, bridges, and terrain.

The most effective way to simulative external turbulent flow is through the use of a boundary layer wind tunnel.

There are many applications for boundary layer wind tunnel modeling. For example, understanding the impact of wind on high-rise buildings, factories, bridges, etc. can help building designers construct a structure that stands up to wind effects in the most efficient manner possible. Another significant application for boundary layer wind tunnel modeling is for understanding exhaust gas dispersion patterns for hospitals, laboratories, and other emitting sources. Other examples of boundary layer wind tunnel applications are assessments of pedestrian comfort and snow drifting. Wind tunnel modeling is accepted as a method for aiding in green building design. For instance, the use of boundary layer wind tunnel modeling can be used as a credit for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.

Wind tunnel tests in a boundary layer wind tunnel allow for the natural drag of the Earth's surface to be simulated. For accuracy, it is important to simulate the mean wind speed profile and turbulence effects within the atmospheric boundary layer. Most codes and standards recognize that wind tunnel testing can produce reliable information for designers, especially when their projects are in complex terrain or on exposed sites.

In the United States, many wind tunnels have been decommissioned from 1990 to 2010, including some historic facilities. Pressure is brought to bear on remaining wind tunnels due to declining or erratic usage, high electricity costs, and in some cases the high value of the real estate upon which the facility sits. On the other hand, CFD validation still requires wind-tunnel data, and this is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future. Studies have been done and others are underway to assess future military and commercial wind tunnel needs, but the outcome remains uncertain. More recently an increasing use of jet-powered, instrumented unmanned vehicles, or research drones, have replaced some of the traditional uses of wind tunnels. The world's fastest wind tunnel as of 2019 is the LENS-X wind tunnel, located in Buffalo, New York.

How it works
Air is blown or sucked through a duct equipped with a viewing port and instrumentation where models or geometrical shapes are mounted for study. Typically the air is moved through the tunnel using a series of fans. For very large wind tunnels several meters in diameter, a single large fan is not practical, and so instead an array of multiple fans are used in parallel to provide sufficient airflow. Due to the sheer volume and speed of air movement required, the fans may be powered by stationary turbofan engines rather than electric motors.

The airflow created by the fans that is entering the tunnel is itself highly turbulent due to the fan blade motion (when the fan is blowing air into the test section – when it is sucking air out of the test section downstream, the fan-blade turbulence is not a factor), and so is not directly useful for accurate measurements. The air moving through the tunnel needs to be relatively turbulence-free and laminar. To correct this problem, closely spaced vertical and horizontal air vanes are used to smooth out the turbulent airflow before reaching the subject of the testing.

Due to the effects of viscosity, the cross-section of a wind tunnel is typically circular rather than square, because there will be greater flow constriction in the corners of a square tunnel that can make the flow turbulent. A circular tunnel provides a smoother flow.

The inside facing of the tunnel is typically as smooth as possible, to reduce surface drag and turbulence that could impact the accuracy of the testing. Even smooth walls induce some drag into the airflow, and so the object being tested is usually kept near the center of the tunnel, with an empty buffer zone between the object and the tunnel walls. There are correction factors to relate wind tunnel test results to open-air results.

The lighting is usually embedded into the circular walls of the tunnel and shines in through windows. If the light were mounted on the inside surface of the tunnel in a conventional manner, the light bulb would generate turbulence as the air blows around it. Similarly, observation is usually done through transparent portholes into the tunnel. Rather than simply being flat discs, these lighting and observation windows may be curved to match the cross-section of the tunnel and further reduce turbulence around the window.

Various techniques are used to study the actual airflow around the geometry and compare it with theoretical results, which must also take into account the Reynolds number and Mach number for the regime of operation.

Pressure measurements
Pressure across the surfaces of the model can be measured if the model includes pressure taps. This can be useful for pressure-dominated phenomena, but this only accounts for normal forces on the body.

Force and moment measurements

With the model mounted on a force balance, one can measure lift, drag, lateral forces, yaw, roll, and pitching moments over a range of angle of attack. This allows one to produce common curves such as lift coefficient versus angle of attack (shown).

The force balance itself creates drag and potential turbulence that will affect the model and introduce errors into the measurements. The supporting structures are therefore typically smoothly shaped to minimize turbulence.

Flow visualization
Because air is transparent it is difficult to directly observe the air movement itself. Instead, multiple methods of both quantitative and qualitative flow visualization methods have been developed for testing in a wind tunnel.

Qualitative methods

 * Smoke
 * Carbon dioxide injection
 * Tufts, mini-tufts, or flow cones can be applied to a model and remain attached during testing. Tufts can be used to gauge air flow patterns and flow separation. Tufts are sometimes made of fluorescent material and are illuminated under black light to aid in visualization.
 * Evaporating suspensions are simply a mixture of some sort or fine powder, talc, or clay mixed into a liquid with a low latent heat of evaporation. When the wind is turned on the liquid quickly evaporates, leaving behind the clay in a pattern characteristic of the air flow.
 * Oil: When oil is applied to the model surface it can clearly show the transition from laminar to turbulent flow as well as flow separation.
 * Tempera Paint: Similar to oil, tempera paint can be applied to the surface of the model by initially applying the paint in spaced out dots. After running the wind tunnel, the flow direction and separation can be identified.  An additional strategy in the use of tempera paint is to use blacklights to create a luminous flow pattern with the tempera paint.
 * Fog (usually from water particles) is created with an ultrasonic piezoelectric nebulizer. The fog is transported inside the wind tunnel (preferably of the closed circuit and closed test section type). An electrically heated grid is inserted before the test section, which evaporates the water particles at its vicinity, thus forming fog sheets. The fog sheets function as streamlines over the test model when illuminated by a light sheet.
 * Sublimation: If the air movement in the tunnel is sufficiently non-turbulent, a particle stream released into the airflow will not break up as the air moves along, but stay together as a sharp thin line. Multiple particle streams released from a grid of many nozzles can provide a dynamic three-dimensional shape of the airflow around a body. As with the force balance, these injection pipes and nozzles need to be shaped in a manner that minimizes the introduction of turbulent airflow into the airstream.
 * Sublimation (alternate definition): A flow visualization technique is to coat the model in a sublimatable material where once the wind is turned on in regions where the airflow is laminar, the material will remain attached to the model, while conversely in turbulent areas the material will evaporate off of the model. This technique is primarily employed to verify that trip dots placed at the leading edge in order to force a transition are successfully achieving the intended goal.

High-speed turbulence and vortices can be difficult to see directly, but strobe lights and film cameras or high-speed digital cameras can help to capture events that are a blur to the naked eye.

High-speed cameras are also required when the subject of the test is itself moving at high speed, such as an airplane propeller. The camera can capture stop-motion images of how the blade cuts through the particulate streams and how vortices are generated along the trailing edges of the moving blade.

Quantitative methods

 * Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP): PSP is a technique whereby a model is spray coated with a paint that reacts to variations in pressure by changing color. In conjunction with this technique, cameras are usually positioned at strategic viewing angles through the walls, ceiling, and floor of the wind tunnel to photograph the model while the wind is on.  The photographic results can be digitized to create a full distribution of the external pressures acting on the model, and subsequently mapped onto a computational geometric mesh for direct comparison with CFD results.  PSP measurements can be effective at capturing pressure variations across the model however often require supplemental pressure taps on the surface of the model to verify the absolute magnitude of the pressure coefficients.  An important property of well behaved PSP paints is they also should be insensitive to temperature effects since the temperature inside the wind tunnel could vary considerably after continuously running.  Common difficulties encountered when using PSP include the inability to accurately measure the leading and trailing edge effects in areas where there is high curvature due to limitations in the cameras ability to gain an advantageous viewing angle.  Additionally application of PSP on the leading edge is sometimes avoided because it introduces a finite thickness that could cause early flow separation thus corrupting results.  Since the pressure variations at the leading edge is typically of primary interest, the lack of accurate results in that region is very problematic.  Once a model is painted with pressure sensitive paint, certain paints have been known to adhere and continue to perform for a matter of months after initially applied.  Finally PSP paints have been known to have certain frequency characteristics where some require a few moments to stabilize before achieving accurate results while others converge rapidly.  In the latter instance paints that have ability to reflect rapid changes in pressure can be used for Dynamic PSP applications where the intent is to measure unsteady flow characteristics.
 * Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV): PIV is a technique in which a laser sheet is emitted through a slit in the wall of the tunnel where an imaging device is able to track the local velocity direction of particles in the plane of the laser sheet. Sometimes this technique involves seeding the airflow with observable material.  This technique allows for the quantitative measurement of the velocity and direction of the flow across the areas captured in the plane of the laser.
 * Model Deformation Measurement (MDM): MDM works by placing markers at known geometric locations on the wind tunnel model and taking photographs of the change in the marker's location as the wind in the tunnel is applied. By analyzing the change in marker positions from different camera viewing angles, the translational change in location of the marker can be calculated.  By collecting results from a few markers, the degree to which the model is flexibly yielding due to the air load can be calculated.

Classification
There are many different kinds of wind tunnels. They are typically classified by the range of speeds that are achieved in the test section, as follows:

 * Low-speed wind tunnel
 * High speed wind tunnel
 * Subsonic and transonic wind tunnel
 * Supersonic wind tunnel
 * Hypersonic wind tunnel
 * High enthalpy wind tunnel

Wind tunnels are also classified by the orientation of air flow in the test section with respect to gravity. Typically they are oriented horizontally, as happens during level flight. A different class of wind tunnels are oriented vertically so that gravity can be balanced by drag instead of lift, and these have become a popular form of recreation for simulating sky-diving:

 * Vertical wind tunnel

Wind tunnels are also classified based on their main use. For those used with land vehicles such as cars and trucks the type of floor aerodynamics is also important. These vary from stationary floors through to full moving floors, with smaller moving floors and some attempt at boundary level control also being important.

Aeronautical wind tunnels
The main subcategories in the aeronautical wind tunnels are:

High Reynolds number tunnels
Reynolds number is one of the governing similarity parameters for the simulation of flow in a wind tunnel. For mach number less than 0.3, it is the primary parameter that governs the flow characteristics. There are three main ways to simulate high Reynolds number, since it is not practical to obtain full scale Reynolds number by use of a full scale vehicle.
 * Pressurised tunnels: Here test gases are pressurised to increase the Reynolds number.
 * Heavy gas tunnels: Heavier gases like freon and R-134a are used as test gases. The transonic dynamics tunnel at NASA Langley is an example of such a tunnel.
 * Cryogenic tunnels: Here test gas is cooled down to increase the Reynolds number. The European transonic wind tunnel uses this technique.
 * High-altitude tunnels: These are designed to test the effects of shock waves against various aircraft shapes in near vacuum. In 1952 the University of California constructed the first two high-altitude wind tunnels: one for testing objects at 50 to 70 miles above the earth and the second for tests at 80 to 200 miles above the earth.

V/STOL tunnels
V/STOL tunnels require large cross section area, but only small velocities. Since power varies with the cube of velocity, the power required for the operation is also less. An example of a V/STOL tunnel is the NASA Langley 14 by tunnel.

Spin tunnels
Aircraft have a tendency to spin when they stall. These tunnels are used to study that phenomenon.

Automotive tunnels
Automotive wind tunnels fall into two categories:
 * External flow tunnels are used to study the external flow through the chassis
 * Climatic tunnels are used to evaluate the performance of door systems, braking systems, etc. under various climatic conditions. Most of the leading automobile manufacturers have their own climatic wind tunnels

Wunibald Kamm built the first full-scale wind tunnel for motor vehicles.

For external flow tunnels various systems are used to compensate for the effect of the boundary layer on the road surface, including systems of moving belts under each wheel and the body of the car (5 or 7 belt systems) or one large belt under the entire car, or other methods of boundary layer control such as scoops or perforations to suck it away.

Aeroacoustic tunnels
These tunnels are used in the studies of noise generated by flow and its suppression.

High enthalpy
A high enthalpy wind tunnel is intended to study flow of air around objects moving at speeds much faster than the local speed of sound (hypersonic speeds). "Enthalpy" is the total energy of a gas stream, composed of internal energy due to temperature, the product of pressure and volume, and the velocity of flow. Duplication of the conditions of hypersonic flight requires large volumes of high-pressure, heated air; large pressurized hot reservoirs, and electric arcs, are two techniques used.

Aquadynamic flume
The aerodynamic principles of the wind tunnel work equally on watercraft, except the water is more viscous and so sets greater forces on the object being tested. A looping flume is typically used for underwater aquadynamic testing. The interaction between two different types of fluids means that pure wind tunnel testing is only partly relevant. However, a similar sort of research is done in a towing tank.

Low-speed oversize liquid testing
Air is not always the best test medium for studying small-scale aerodynamic principles, due to the speed of the air flow and airfoil movement. A study of fruit fly wings designed to understand how the wings produce lift was performed using a large tank of mineral oil and wings 100 times larger than actual size, in order to slow down the wing beats and make the vortices generated by the insect wings easier to see and understand.

Fan testing
Wind tunnel tests are also performed to precisely measure the air movement of fans at a specific pressure. By determining the environmental circumstances during measurement, and by revising the air-tightness afterwards, the standardization of the data is ensured.

There are two possible ways of measurement: a complete fan, or an impeller on a hydraulic installation. Two measuring tubes enable measurements of lower air currents (< 30,000 m3/h) as well as higher air currents (< 60,000 m3/h). The determination of the Q/h curve of the fan is one of the main objectives. To determine this curve (and to define other parameters) air technical, mechanical as well as electro technical data are measured:

Air technical:
 * Static pressure difference (Pa)
 * Amount of moved air (m3/h)
 * Average air speed (m/s)
 * Specific efficiency (W/1000 m3/h)
 * Efficiency

Electro technical:
 * Tension (V)
 * Current (A)
 * Cos φ
 * Admitted power (W) fan / impeller
 * Rotations per minute (RPM)

The measurement can take place on the fan or in the application in which the fan is used.

Wind engineering testing
In wind engineering, wind tunnel tests are used to measure the velocity around, and forces or pressures upon structures. Very tall buildings, buildings with unusual or complicated shapes (such as a tall building with a parabolic or a hyperbolic shape), cable suspension bridges or cable stayed bridges are analyzed in specialized atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnels. These feature a long upwind section to accurately represent the wind speed and turbulence profile acting on the structure. Wind tunnel tests provide the necessary design pressure measurements in use of the dynamic analysis and control of tall buildings.

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title: Wind tunnel


text:
Turandot

Turandot ( see below ) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it premiered in 1926 after the music was posthumously completed by Franco Alfano.

The opera is set in China and follows the Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold Princess Turandot. In order to win her hand in marriage, a suitor must solve three riddles, with a wrong answer resulting in his execution. Calaf passes the test, but Turandot refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to guess his name before dawn the next day, he will accept death.

Origin and pronunciation of the name
The title of the opera is derived from the Persian term Turandokht (توراندخت, 'daughter of Turan'), a name frequently given to Central Asian princesses in Persian poetry. Turan is a region of Central Asia that was once part of the Persian Empire. Dokht is a contraction of dokhtar (daughter); the kh and t are both pronounced.

Standard Italian pronunciation prescribes pronouncing the final t. However, according to Puccini scholar Patrick Vincent Casali, the t is silent in the name of the opera and of its title character, thus. Soprano Rosa Raisa, who created the title role, said that neither Puccini nor Arturo Toscanini, who conducted the first performances, ever pronounced the final t. Similarly, prominent Turandot Eva Turner did not pronounce the final t in television interviews. Casali maintains that the musical setting of many of Calaf's utterances of the name makes sounding the final t all but impossible. On the other hand, Simonetta Puccini, the composer's granddaughter and keeper of the Villa Puccini and Mausoleum, has said that the final t must be pronounced.

Composition history
The beginnings of Turandot can likely be found in Haft Peykar, a twelfth-century epic by the Persian poet Nizami. One of the stories in Haft Peykar features a Russian princess. In 1722, François Pétis de la Croix published his Les Mille et un jours (The Thousand and One Days), a collection of stories which were purportedly taken from Middle Eastern folklore and mythologies. One of these stories, believed to be inspired by Nizami, features a cold princess named Turandokht. However, it has been speculated that many of de la Croix's 'translated' stories were his own original creations, with no actual basis in Middle Eastern cultures. De la Croix's story was adapted into a play, Turandot, by the Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi in 1762, which was then adapted by Friedrich Schiller into another play in 1801. It was Schiller's version that inspired Puccini to write the opera.

Puccini began working on Turandot in March 1920 after meeting with librettists Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. In his impatience, he began composition in January 1921, before Adami and Simoni had produced the text for the libretto. As with Madama Butterfly, Puccini strove for a semblance of authenticity by using music from the region, even commissioning a set of thirteen custom-made gongs. Baron Edoardo Fassini-Camossi, the former Italian diplomat to China, gave Puccini a music box that played 4 Chinese melodies. Puccini incorporated three of these melodies into his opera, the most memorable of which is the folk melody "Mò Li Hūa (茉莉花)" ('Jasmine Flower'). Mò Li Hūa serves as a leitmotif for Princess Turandot's splendor. In total, eight of the themes from Turandot appear to be based on traditional Chinese music and anthems.

By March 1924, Puccini had completed the opera up to the final duet. However, he was dissatisfied with the text of the final duet, and did not continue until 8 October, when he chose Adami's fourth version of the duet text. Two days later, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Puccini seems to have had some inkling of the seriousness of his condition: before leaving for Brussels for treatment, he visited Arturo Toscanini and begged him, "Don't let my Turandot die." He died of a heart attack on 29 November 1924.

Completion of the score after Puccini's death
When Puccini died, the first two of the three acts were fully composed, including the orchestration. Puccini had composed and fully orchestrated Act Three up until Liù's death and funeral cortege. In the sense of finished music, this was the last music composed by Puccini. He left behind 36 pages of sketches on 23 sheets for the end of Turandot. Some sketches were in the form of "piano-vocal" or "short score", including vocal lines with "two to four staves of accompaniment with occasional notes on orchestration." These sketches provided music for some, but not all, of the final portion of the libretto.

Puccini left instructions that Riccardo Zandonai should finish the opera. Puccini's son Tonio objected, and eventually Franco Alfano was chosen to flesh out the sketches after Vincenzo Tommasini (who had completed Boito's Nerone after the composer's death) and Pietro Mascagni were rejected. Puccini's publisher Tito Ricordi II decided on Alfano because his opera La leggenda di Sakùntala resembled Turandot in its setting and heavy orchestration. Alfano provided a first version of the ending with a few passages of his own, and even a few sentences added to the libretto, which was not considered complete even by Puccini. After the severe criticisms by Ricordi and the conductor Arturo Toscanini, he was forced to write a second, strictly censored version that followed Puccini's sketches more closely, to the point where he did not set some of Adami's text to music because Puccini had not indicated how he wanted it to sound. Ricordi's real concern was not the quality of Alfano's work; he wanted the end of Turandot to sound as if it had been written by Puccini. Of this version, about three minutes were cut for performance by Toscanini, and it is this shortened version that is usually performed today.

Performance history
Turandot premiered at the La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy, on 25 April 1926, a year and five months after Puccini's death. Rosa Raisa played Turandot. Tenors Miguel Fleta and Franco Lo Giudice alternated in the role of Prince Calaf, with Fleta singing the role on opening night. It was conducted by Arturo Toscanini. In the middle of Act III, the orchestra stopped playing. Toscanini turned to the audience and announced, "Qui finisce l'opera, perché a questo punto il maestro è morto" ("Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died"). The curtain was then lowered. A reporter for La Stampa recorded the words slightly differently: "Qui finisce l'opera, rimasta incompiuta per la morte del povero Puccini" ("Here the opera ends, left incomplete by the death of the poor Puccini"). Others have reported that Toscanini said "Here, the Maestro laid down his pen." A newspaper report from 1926 states that Puccini asked Toscanini to stop the opera performance in the middle of Act III. The second and subsequent performances of the 1926 La Scala season included Alfano's ending.

Soon after its premiere in Milan, Turandot spread to other cities. For many years, the government of the People's Republic of China forbade performance of Turandot because they said it portrayed China and the Chinese unfavorably. Instead of a single nationwide decree against it, any attempts to produce it were not approved. In the late 1990s they relented, and in September 1998 the opera was performed for eight nights as Turandot at the Forbidden City, complete with opulent sets and soldiers from the People's Liberation Army as extras. It was an international collaboration, with director Zhang Yimou as choreographer and Zubin Mehta as conductor. The singing roles saw Giovanna Casolla, Audrey Stottler, and Sharon Sweet as Princess Turandot; Sergej Larin and Lando Bartolini as Calaf; and Barbara Frittoli, Cristina Gallardo-Domâs, and Barbara Hendricks as Liù.

The aria "Nessun dorma" has long been a staple of operatic recitals. Luciano Pavarotti popularized the piece beyond the opera world in the 1990s with his performance of it for the 1990 World Cup, which received a global audience. Both Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo released singles of the aria, with Pavarotti's reaching number 2 in the UK. The Three Tenors performed the aria at three subsequent World Cup Finals, in 1994 in Los Angeles, 1998 in Paris, and 2002 in Yokohama. Many crossover and pop artists have performed and recorded it and the aria has been used in the soundtracks of numerous films. Turandot is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire and it appears as number 17 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.

Alfano's and other versions
The debate over which version of the ending is better is still open. Alfano's original ending to the opera was first recorded (as part of an album with Josephine Barstow singing final scenes of several operas) by John Mauceri and Scottish Opera (with Josephine Barstow and Lando Bartolini as soloists) for Decca Records in 1990 to great acclaim. However, it may have been staged in Germany in the early years, since Ricordi had commissioned a German translation of the text and a number of scores were printed in Germany with the full final scene included. Alfano's second ending has been further redacted as well: Turandot's aria "Del primo pianto" was performed at the premiere but cut from the first complete recording; it was eventually restored to most performances of the opera.

From 1976 to 1988, the American composer Janet Maguire, convinced that the whole ending is coded in the sketches left by Puccini, composed a new ending, but this has never been performed. In 2001, Luciano Berio made a new completion sanctioned by Casa Ricordi and the Puccini estate, using Puccini's sketches but also expanding the musical language. It was subsequently performed in the Canary Islands and Amsterdam conducted by Riccardo Chailly, Los Angeles conducted by Kent Nagano, at the Salzburg Festival conducted by Valery Gergiev in August 2002. However, its reception was mixed.

In late 2007, Chinese composer Hao Weiya made another completion before the opening of National Centre for the Performing Arts, also resulting in a mixed reception.

In 2024, Washington National Opera premiered a newly commissioned ending by composer Christopher Tin and librettist Susan Soon He Stanton to very positive reviews. Michael Andor Brodeur of The Washington Post called the production 'refreshing' and declared "Even without the new ending — and Tin’s splendid musical additions, which draw sensibly from Puccini’s score while applying an entirely new emotional finish — Francesca Zambello’s "Turandot" crackles with fresh energy". Heidi Waleson of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the new ending "fits the opera neatly. Its sound and attitude, while contemporary, grow organically from Puccini’s original, like a savvy modern addition on a historic building."

In 2024, Opera Delaware premiered a newly commissioned completion by composer Derrick Wang, which was praised as "adept," "respectful," and "seamless."

Daniela Kerck made another version for the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden in 2024, using exclusively music by Puccini, the unfinished opera followed by his 1905 Requiem antiphone. She identified Calaf with Puccini, and other charactors with people from his life, beginning and ending the story in Puccini's library with a grand piano. In this version, when Liú has taken her life and the music by Puccini ends, the Puccini on stage receives a kiss of death from Turandot and dies.

Synopsis

 * Place: Peking, China
 * Time: Legendary times

Act 1
In front of the imperial palace

In China, the beautiful Princess Turandot will marry only a suitor who can answer three riddles. A Mandarin announces the law of the land (Aria – "Popolo di Pechino!" – "People of Peking!"). The Prince of Persia has failed to answer the three riddles, and he is to be beheaded at the next rising moon. As the crowd surges towards the gates of the palace, the imperial guards brutally repulse them, causing a blind old man to be knocked to the ground. The old man's slave-girl, Liù, cries out for help. A young man hears her cry and recognizes that the old man is his long-lost father, Timur, the deposed king of Tartary. The young Prince of Tartary is overjoyed at seeing Timur alive, but still urges Timur not to speak his name because he is afraid that the Chinese rulers, who have conquered Tartary, may kill or harm them. Timur then tells his son that, of all his servants, only Liù has remained faithful to him. When the Prince asks her why, she tells him that once, long ago in the palace, the Prince had smiled at her (Trio with chorus – The crowd, Liù, Prince of Tartary, Timur: "Indietro, cani!" – "Back, dogs!").

The moon rises, and the crowd's cries for blood dissolve into silence. The doomed Prince of Persia, who is on his way to be executed, is led before the crowd. The young Prince is so handsome and kind that the crowd and the Prince of Tartary decide that they want Turandot to act compassionately, and they beg Turandot to appear and spare his life (Aria – The crowd, Prince of Tartary: "O giovinetto!" – "O youth!"). She then appears, and with a single imperious gesture, orders the execution to continue. The Prince of Tartary, who has never seen Turandot before, falls immediately in love with her, and joyfully cries out Turandot's name three times, foreshadowing the riddles to come. Then the Prince of Persia cries out Turandot's name one final time, mirroring the Prince of Tartary. The crowd, horrified, screams out one final time and the Prince of Persia is beheaded.

The Prince of Tartary is dazzled by Turandot's beauty. He is about to rush towards the gong and to strike it three times – the symbolic gesture of whoever wishes to attempt to solve the riddles so that he can marry Turandot – when the ministers Ping, Pang, and Pong appear. They urge him cynically not to lose his head for Turandot and instead to go back to his own country ("Fermo, che fai?" "Stop, what are you doing?"). Timur urges his son to desist, and Liù, who is secretly in love with the Prince, pleads with him not to attempt to solve the riddles ("Signore, ascolta!" – "Lord, hear!"). Liù's words touch the Prince's heart. He begs Liù to make Timur's exile more bearable by not abandoning Timur if the Prince fails to answer the riddles ("Non piangere, Liù" – "Do not cry, Liù"). The three ministers, Timur, and Liù then try one last time to stop the Prince ("Ah! Per l'ultima volta!" – "Ah! For the last time!") from attempting to answer the riddles, but he refuses to heed their advice.

He calls Turandot's name three times, and each time Liù, Timur, and the ministers reply, "Death!" and the crowd declares, "We're already digging your grave!" Rushing to the gong that hangs in front of the palace, the Prince strikes it three times, declaring himself to be a suitor. From the palace balcony, Turandot accepts his challenge, as Ping, Pang, and Pong laugh at the Prince's foolishness.

Act 2
''Scene 1: A pavilion in the imperial palace. Before sunrise''

Ping, Pang, and Pong lament their place as ministers, poring over palace documents and presiding over endless rituals. They prepare themselves for either a wedding or a funeral (Trio – Ping, Pang, Pong: "Ola, Pang!"). Ping suddenly longs for his country house in Honan, with its small lake surrounded by bamboo. Pong remembers his grove of forests near Tsiang, and Pang recalls his gardens near Kiu. The three share their fond memories of their lives away from the palace (Trio – Ping, Pang, Pong: "Ho una casa nell'Honan" – "I have a house in Honan"). They turn their thoughts back to how they have been accompanying young princes to their deaths. As the palace trumpet sounds, the ministers ready themselves for another spectacle as they await the entrance of their Emperor.

''Scene 2: The courtyard of the palace. Sunrise'' The Emperor Altoum, father of Turandot, sits on his grand throne in his palace. Weary of having to judge his isolated daughter's sport, he urges the Prince to withdraw his challenge, but the Prince refuses (Aria – Altoum, the Prince: "Un giuramento atroce" – "An atrocious oath"). Turandot enters and explains ("In questa reggia" – "In this palace") that her ancestress of millennia past, Princess Lo-u-Ling, reigned over her kingdom "in silence and joy, resisting the harsh domination of men" until she was raped and murdered by an invading foreign prince. Turandot claims that Lo-u-Ling now lives in her and, out of revenge, Turandot has sworn never to let any man wed her. She warns the Prince to withdraw but again he refuses. The Princess presents her first riddle: "Straniero, ascolta!" – "What is born each night and dies each dawn?" The Prince correctly replies, Speranza – "Hope". The Princess, unnerved, presents her second riddle ("Guizza al pari di fiamma" – "What flickers red and warm like a flame, but is not fire?") The Prince thinks for a moment before replying, Sangue – "Blood". Turandot is shaken. The crowd cheers the Prince, provoking Turandot's anger. She presents her third riddle ("Gelo che ti da foco" – "What is ice which gives you fire and which your fire freezes still more?"). He proclaims, "It is Turandot! Turandot!"

The crowd cheers for the triumphant Prince. Turandot throws herself at her father's feet and pleads with him not to leave her to the Prince's mercy. The Emperor insists that an oath is sacred and that it is Turandot's duty to wed the Prince (Duet – Turandot, Altoum, the Prince: "Figlio del cielo"). She cries out in despair, "Will you take me by force? (Mi porterai con la forza?) The Prince stops her, saying that he has a riddle for her: "You do not know my name. Tell me my name before sunrise, and at dawn, I will die." Turandot accepts. The Emperor then declares that he hopes that he will be able to call the Prince his son when the sun next rises.

Act 3
''Scene 1: The palace gardens. Night''

In the distance, heralds call out Turandot's command: "Cosi comanda Turandot" – "This night, none shall sleep in Peking! The penalty for all will be death if the Prince's name is not discovered by morning." The Prince waits for dawn and anticipates his victory: "Nessun dorma" – "Let no one sleep!"

Ping, Pong, and Pang appear and offer the Prince women and riches if he will only give up Turandot ("Tu che guardi le stelle"), but he refuses. A group of soldiers then drag in Timur and Liù. They have been seen speaking to the Prince, so they must know his name. Turandot enters and orders Timur and Liù to speak. The Prince feigns ignorance, saying they know nothing. But when the guards begin to treat Timur harshly, Liù declares that she alone knows the Prince's name, but she will not reveal it.

Ping demands the Prince's name, and when Liù refuses to say it, she is tortured. Turandot is clearly taken aback by Liù's resolve and asks Liù who or what gave her such a strong resolve. Liù answers, "Princess, love!" ("Principessa, amore!"). Turandot demands that Ping tear the Prince's name from Liù, and Ping orders Liù to be tortured even more. Liù counters Turandot ("Tu che di gel sei cinta" – "You who are encircled by ice"), saying that Turandot too will learn the exquisite joy of being guided by caring and compassionate love. Having spoken, Liù seizes a dagger from a soldier's belt and stabs herself. As she staggers towards the Prince and falls dead, the crowd screams for her to speak the Prince's name. Since Timur is blind, he must be told about Liù's death, and he cries out in anguish.

When Timur warns that the gods will be offended by Liù's death, the crowd becomes subdued, very afraid and ashamed. The grieving Timur and the crowd follow Liù's body as it is carried away. Everybody departs, leaving the Prince and Turandot alone. He reproaches Turandot for her cruelty (Duet – The Prince, Turandot: "Principessa di morte" – "Princess of death"), then takes her in his arms and kisses her in spite of her resistance.

The Prince tries to persuade Turandot to love him. At first, she feels disgusted, but after he kisses her, she feels herself becoming more ardently desiring to be held and compassionately loved by him. She admits that ever since she met the Prince, she realized she both hated and loved him. She asks him to ask for nothing more and to leave, taking his mystery with him. The Prince, however, then reveals his name: "Calaf, son of Timur – Calaf, figlio di Timur", thereby placing his life in Turandot's hands. She can now destroy him if she wants (Duet – Turandot, Calaf: "Del primo pianto").

''Scene 2: The courtyard of the palace. Dawn''

Turandot and Calaf approach the Emperor's throne. She declares that she knows the Prince's name: ("Diecimila anni al nostro Imperatore!") – "It is ... love!" The crowd sings and acclaims the two lovers ("O sole! Vita! Eternità").

Critical response
While long recognised as the most tonally adventurous of Puccini's operas, Turandot has also been considered a flawed masterpiece, and some critics have been hostile. Joseph Kerman states that "Nobody would deny that dramatic potential can be found in this tale. Puccini, however, did not find it; his music does nothing to rationalize the legend or illuminate the characters." Kerman also wrote that while Turandot is more "suave" musically than Puccini's earlier opera, Tosca, "dramatically it is a good deal more depraved." However, Sir Thomas Beecham once remarked that anything that Joseph Kerman said about Puccini "can safely be ignored".

Some of this criticism is possibly due to the standard Alfano ending (Alfano II), in which Liù's death is followed almost immediately by Calaf's "rough wooing" of Turandot, and the "bombastic" end to the opera. A later attempt at completing the opera was made, with the co-operation of the publishers, Ricordi, in 2002 by Luciano Berio. The Berio version is considered to overcome some of these criticisms, but critics such as Michael Tanner have failed to be wholly convinced by the new ending, noting that the criticism by the Puccini advocate Julian Budden still applies: "Nothing in the text of the final duet suggests that Calaf's love for Turandot amounts to anything more than a physical obsession: nor can the ingenuities of Simoni and Adami's text for 'Del primo pianto' convince us that the Princess's submission is any less hormonal."

Ashbrook and Powers consider it was an awareness of this problem – an inadequate buildup for Turandot's change of heart, combined with an overly successful treatment of the secondary character (Liù) – which contributed to Puccini's inability to complete the opera. Another alternative ending, written by Chinese composer Hao Wei Ya, has Calaf pursue Turandot but kiss her tenderly, not forcefully; and the lines beginning "Del primo pianto" (Of the first tears) are expanded into an aria where Turandot tells Calaf more fully about her change of heart.

Concerning the compelling believability of the self-sacrificial Liù character in contrast to the two mythic protagonists, biographers note echoes in Puccini's own life. He had had a servant named Doria, whom his wife accused of sexual relations with Puccini. The accusations escalated until Doria killed herself. In Turandot, Puccini lavished his attention on the familiar sufferings of Liù, as he had on his many previous suffering heroines. However, in the opinion of Father Owen Lee, Puccini was out of his element when it came to resolving the tale of his two allegorical protagonists. Finding himself completely outside his normal genre of verismo, he was incapable of completely grasping and resolving the necessary elements of the mythic, unable to "feel his way into the new, forbidding areas the myth opened up to him" – and thus unable to finish the opera in the two years before his unexpected death.

Instrumentation
Turandot is scored for three flutes (the third doubling piccolo); two oboes; one cor anglais; two clarinets in B-flat; one bass clarinet in B-flat, two bassoons; one contrabassoon; two onstage alto saxophones in E-flat; four French horns in F; three trumpets in F; three tenor trombones; one contrabass trombone; six onstage trumpets in B-flat, three onstage trombones; and one onstage bass trombone; a percussion section with timpani, cymbals, gong, one triangle, one snare drum, one bass drum, one tam-tam, one glockenspiel, one xylophone, one bass xylophone, tubular bells, and tuned Chinese gongs; one onstage wood block; one onstage large gong; one celesta; one pipe organ; two harps; and strings.

title: Turandot


text:
Manon Lescaut

The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut (Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut ) is a novel by Antoine François Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité (Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality).

The story, set in France and Louisiana in the early 18th century, follows the hero, the Chevalier des Grieux, and his lover, Manon Lescaut. Controversial in its time, the work was banned in France upon publication. Despite this, it became very popular and pirated editions were widely distributed. In a subsequent 1753 edition, the Abbé Prévost toned down some scandalous details and injected more moralizing disclaimers. The work was to become the most reprinted book in French literature, with over 250 editions published between 1731 and 1981.

Plot summary
Seventeen-year-old Des Grieux, studying philosophy at Amiens, comes from a noble and landed family, but forfeits his hereditary wealth and incurs the disappointment of his father by running away with Manon on her way to a convent. In Paris, the young lovers enjoy a blissful cohabitation, while Des Grieux struggles to satisfy Manon's taste for luxury. He acquires money by borrowing from his unwaveringly loyal friend Tiberge and by cheating gamblers. On several occasions, Des Grieux's wealth evaporates (by theft, in a house fire, etc.), prompting Manon to leave him for a richer man because she cannot stand the thought of living in penury.

The two lovers finally end up in New Orleans, to which Manon has been deported as a prostitute, where they pretend to be married and live in idyllic peace for a while. But when Des Grieux reveals their unmarried state to the Governor, Étienne Perier, and asks to be wed to Manon, Perier's nephew, Synnelet sets his sights on winning Manon's hand. In despair, Des Grieux challenges Synnelet to a duel and knocks him unconscious. Thinking he has killed the man, and fearing retribution, the couple flee New Orleans and venture into the wilderness of Louisiana, hoping to reach an English settlement. Manon dies of exposure and exhaustion the following morning and, after burying his beloved, Des Grieux is eventually taken back to France by Tiberge.

Dramas, operas and ballets

 * Manon Lescaut (1830), a ballet by Jean-Louis Aumer
 * Manon Lescaut (1856), an opera by French composer Daniel Auber
 * Manon (1884), an opera by French composer Jules Massenet
 * Manon Lescaut (1893), opera by Puccini
 * Manon Lescaut (1940), a drama in verse by Czech poet Vítězslav Nezval
 * Boulevard Solitude (1952) "Lyrisches Drama" (lyric drama) or opera by German composer Hans Werner Henze
 * Manon (1974), a ballet with music by Jules Massenet and choreography by Kenneth MacMillan
 * Manon (2015), a musical written for the Takarazuka troupe by librettist/director Keiko Ueda and composer Joy Son

Films

 * Manon Lescaut (1926), directed by Arthur Robison, with Lya de Putti
 * When a Man Loves (1927), directed by Alan Crosland, with John Barrymore and Dolores Costello
 * Manon Lescaut (1940), directed by Carmine Gallone, with Vittorio de Sica and Alida Valli
 * Manon (1949), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, with Michel Auclair and Cécile Aubry
 * The Lovers of Manon Lescaut (1954), directed by Mario Costa
 * Manon 70 (1968), directed by Jean Aurel, with Catherine Deneuve and Sami Frey
 * Manón (1986), Venezuelan movie directed by Román Chalbaud, with Mayra Alejandra
 * Manon Lescaut (2013), directed by Gabriel Aghion, with Céline Perreau and Samuel Theis

Translations
English translations of the original 1731 version of the novel include Helen Waddell's (1931). For the 1753 revision there are translations by, among others, L. W. Tancock (Penguin, 1949—though he divides the 2-part novel into a number of chapters), Donald M. Frame (Signet, 1961—which notes differences between the 1731 and 1753 editions), Angela Scholar (Oxford, 2004, with extensive notes and commentary), and Andrew Brown (Hesperus, 2004, with a foreword by Germaine Greer).

Henri Valienne (1854–1908), a physician and author of the first novel in the constructed language Esperanto, translated Manon Lescaut into that language. His translation was published at Paris in 1908, and reissued by the British Esperanto Association in 1926.

Additional references

 * Kunitz, Stanley J. & Colby, Vineta (1967). François Prévost, Antoine in European Authors 1000–1900, pp. 743–44. H.W. Wilson Company, New York.
 * Kunitz, Stanley J. & Colby, Vineta (1967). François Prévost, Antoine in European Authors 1000–1900, pp. 743–44. H.W. Wilson Company, New York.
 * Kunitz, Stanley J. & Colby, Vineta (1967). François Prévost, Antoine in European Authors 1000–1900, pp. 743–44. H.W. Wilson Company, New York.
 * Kunitz, Stanley J. & Colby, Vineta (1967). François Prévost, Antoine in European Authors 1000–1900, pp. 743–44. H.W. Wilson Company, New York.

title: Manon Lescaut