Turandot

In a mythical ancient China, the icy Princess Turandot has decreed that any prince who wishes to marry her must answer three riddles. Those who fail are executed at dawn. The stage at the opera's opening is decorated with the heads of those who have tried. The unknown prince Calàf arrives, sees Turandot once, and immediately announces his intention to answer the riddles — to the horror of his father and the slave girl Liù, who loves him quietly. He solves all three. He wins. And winning someone who did not want to be won turns out to be a different problem entirely. Puccini left the opera unfinished at his death in 1924; the final scene was completed by Franco Alfano from the composer's sketches. Nessun dorma — the aria Calàf sings the night before the final riddle, certain of victory — is the most famous tenor aria ever written. In a house this size, with the right voice, it is something that stays with you.