Turnandot is an Opera that was written by Puccini. The general idea of the story is that by Mandarin law, anybody who wants to wed the princess is given three riddles to answer. If they cannot answer the three riddles, then they are beheaded. There is to be a beheading at dawn, and a crowd has gathered to see the beheading. In the process a blind beggar man is thrown to the ground, and a young prince (of Tartary) recognizes his displaced father. The father introduces the young prince to the only servant who has been faithful to him, Liu. When she is asked why, she says that once the prince smiled at her (she is secretly in love with him). At the beheading of the Prince of Persia, the prince of Tartary sees Turnandot and falls in love with her. Before he can announce his intention of requesting her hand, three advisers come out and tell him that he shouldn't want to lose his head for her but he refuses to listen.
In the second act Turnandot explains that her ancestor was happy ruling until she was ravished by the prince of another kingdom, and that she refuses to wed because of her ancestor. The Emperor poses the three riddles to the Prince and the prince gets all three correct. In this Turnandot begs her father to have mercy on her and to not make her marry the Prince, but she has given the Emperor her word and the Emperor says that the oath is sacred. The prince says that he has a proposition for her, if she can find out his name before sunrise then she can cut off his head.
In the third act, Turnandot is desperately trying to find out the Prince's name. She has guards bring her the Prince's father and Liu. Turnandot commands Liu to tell the prince's name but she won't. She says that even Turnandot will learn to love, and then Liu kills herself. The Prince tries to make Turnandot love him, and so he kisses her. Feeling herself falling in love with him, she tells him to leave, but instead he reveals his name to her (Calaf). She and Calaf approach the Emperor's thrown and she says that she knows his name. She says that his name is Love.
Mozart wrote many operas two of which are Don Giovanni and the Marriage of Figaro
Light Opera is different from Opera in that not all of it is sung. There is more singing than that of musical theater but there are spoken words as well. In regular Opera there is no speaking, the whole story is sung.
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