When Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels in November 1924 as a result of cancer, his composition of "Turandot" was still unfinished. The composer Franco Alfano (1876-1954) was then commissioned to complete the opera. At the premiere at the Teatro alla Scala, the work was performed as a homage to Puccini only up to Liù’s death aria. The conductor Arturo Toscanini addressed the audience at this point: "Here the opera ends, because this is where the master died".
"Turandot" can be regarded as the culmination of Puccini’s creative output, since it perfectly combines all four elements that characterize his incomparable style: The slave Liù symbolizes the lyrical-sentimental element, the pair Turandot/Kalaf the heroic, while the three courtiers stand for the comic-grotesque. The exotic element is achieved by using authentic Chinese sages and pentatonic motifs.
Compared to his other works, "Turandot" has greater echoes of contemporary musical trends, as well as dissonances, polytonal effects and, for the traditionally trained listener, irritating effects in singing and orchestration, making it - compared to his earlier operas - long less popular with the audience. In the meantime, however, Puccini’s last work has established itself on the opera stages. In it, his life’s work is bundled and gives room for speculation as to what the composer’s further musical development might have been like.