Turandot

Enjoy Puccini´s famous opera Turandot in Prague

Italian original version with Czech and English surtitles 

The storyline of the opera is inspired by Persian fairy-tale Turandot from the dervish Mokles’s 17th-century collection The One Thousand and One Nights.  The theme of passionate love, essential for Romantic opera, is veiled in mysterious motifs of ice, fire, moon, while an erotic flame enigmatically blazes along with intense, unrelenting hatred, which we would rather expect to be present in works inspired by decadence or psychoanalysis.

The opera was premiered on 25 April 1926 at Milan’s La Scala, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, who paid tribute to the late Puccini when in Act 3, after the words “Liu, poesia!”, he laid down his baton, turned to the audience and announced: “Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died”. Alfano’s finale was only included in the next performance.

Performing:

National Theatre Orchestra and Chorus
Kühn Choir of Prague (Choir Master: Jaroslav Brych)
The Czech Philharmonic Children's Choir (Choir Master: Jiří Chvála)
The National Theatre Opera Ballet

Important:

• Two 20 min. intermissions
• Purchased tickets cannot be returned or exchanged.
• No discounts are provided. 
• Theatre is a cultural institution. Please respect the common principles of appropriate behaviour and clothing.
• The program may be subject to change.
• The price includes service fee of 3,7 € (100,- CZK)

Prague is full of opera and ballet performances. 

The National Theatre in Prague

The National Theatre is the most important and representative theatre of the Czech Republic

The Prague National Theatre was built from the desire of the Czech people for national independence. Its building was financed from the collections on which participated broad masses of people as well as important donators (including the nobility and the emperor himself). The theatre foundation ceremonial on 16th May 1868 became a national celebration.

The theatre was opened in 1881. In the same year the theatre burned down, and this tragic event caused a huge wave of new collections to support the restoration of the theatre. The Prague National Theatre was re-opened in 1883 by the opera Libuše by Bedřich Smetana and since then it has been serving as a place of Czech national identity and as a flagship of the Czech culture to these days.

How to get there: 

• Accessibility by Prague public transport:
  metro B (yellow line) - Národni třída station
  tram - Národní divadlo stop
• Nearest car parking:
  The underground car park of the National Theatre