Turandot (Symphonic Suite) - Rossini

When Puccini's opera Turandot was heard for the first time in April 1926, its composer had been dead for almost a year and a half. Turandot is considered as his best work: Puccini's mastery of orchestral sound reaches its pinnacle: this is a ripe, opulent, fin de siècle, score, in which deep washes of colour are applied to a profusion of melodic ideas. Arranger Christiaan Janssen did use the orchestral material from the opera to make a large Symphonic Suite for Concert Band.