16 APRIL 2005, Page 31

The Princess

‘Princess of death! Princess of ice!’ — Turandot, Act III It was to be his last supreme success. Gozzi’s barbaric fairy-tale supplied The elements on which his art relied: A world where love and death would coalesce. The little slave-girl’s gentle faithfulness Could only end in brutal suicide. But the great climax would not come: he died Still baffled by his icy-cold Princess.

The theme was love’s transcendent victory; He laboured to achieve it, but could not. Triumph was steeped in blood and cruelty: The drama was defeated by its plot, Flawed by the fatal ambiguity That Liù meant more to him than Turandot.

Geoffrey Riley