Welcome to the website of composer and writer Derrick Wang.
Welcome to the website of composer and writer Derrick Wang.
“Using the original (completed) libretto [of Turandot], [composer Derrick] Wang has crafted a respectful, musically adept, and…seamless new ending.”
—Broad Street Review
Questo chiedevi…ora lo sai.
Original Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami & Renato Simoni, as adapted by Derrick Wang; completion of Act III, Scene 2 by Franco Alfano (1926)
Hailed as “adept,” “respectful,” and “seamless” (Broad Street Review), Derrick Wang’s new completion of the 1926 opera Turandot honors composer Giacomo Puccini’s unfinished work while unlocking new possibilities for this thought-provoking classic.
The world premiere production of this completion was given in 2024 by Opera Delaware.
The 2024 Opera Delaware world premiere production of Derrick Wang’s new completion of Puccini’s unfinished opera Turandot. L to R: John Pickle (Calàf), Michelle Johnson (Turandot). Photo: Joe del Tufo, Moonloop Photography.
Click/tap any of the headings below (denoted by the + symbol) for more details.
Derrick Wang’s completion of Turandot will be available for performance by professional opera companies and orchestras on a limited basis. To inquire about a license to produce this work, or to commission a full orchestration, please visit the Contact page and complete the form “Other”.
This work is intended to replace the passage in Act III, Scene 1 of the “Alfano II” completion of Turandot (Ricordi 1926) starting at rehearsal number 35 and ending at (but not including) rehearsal number 49 (at which point the Alfano II completion is to be resumed).
Language — Italian
Duration — ca. 12 min. [through the end of the opera]
Cast — Same as Alfano II completion
Orchestra:
The following is the program note from the 2024 world premiere production.
[NOTE: Readers hearing Puccini’s Turandot for the first time may wish to wait until after the performance to read this program note.]
When Opera Delaware invited me to create a revised ending to Turandot — one that would newly connect the heart of Puccini’s original sketches to the excitement of Alfano’s finale — I was intrigued. To explore Puccini’s potent musical ideas, to uncover the connections between them, and to shed new light on the original text: for a musical dramatist and forensic musicologist, what better challenge could there be?
Accordingly, this new ending of Turandot (which, with a few exceptions, uses substantially the same lyrics as devised by the creators) is made up of three continuous sections, which I’ll call Confrontation, Transformation, and Celebration — each of which is treated in its own way.
The Confrontation is reorchestrated: Puccini’s original draft (written only for voices and piano) is newly refreshed with orchestral color and instrumental memories of previous scenes, hinting at motivations beyond the surface text.
The Transformation is recomposed: Puccini’s incomplete sketches are newly developed in meaningful conjunction with his earlier musical ideas, especially those relating to Liù — whose fate, as Puccini wrote in a letter to co-librettist Adami, “can have a powerful influence on bringing about” a climactic change of heart and mind.
Finally, the Celebration is recontextualized: although its notes are unchanged from the standard Alfano [II] completion, it may now in performance take on new layers of meaning from what has come before.
My thanks to Opera Delaware for this chance to respond to the riddle of Turandot. By developing a character-driven musical narrative open to multiple interpretations, I hope to unlock new possibilities for the future of this thought-provoking classic. Thank you, too, for being a part of it, and I hope you enjoy the show.
—Derrick Wang
