Thomas Søndergård Leads First Opera in Concert with the Minnesota Orchestra: Puccini's Turandot, May 1 & 3

High-profile cast features Christine Goerke (Turandot), Limmie Pulliam (Calaf), Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (Liù), Adolfo Corrado  (Timur), and the Minnesota Chorale and Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs 

Performances mark the Minnesota Orchestra’s first of the Puccini epic in 40 years

Music Director Thomas Søndergård, an experienced opera conductor in some of Europe’s finest venues, leads his first opera with the Minnesota Orchestra next month, conducting a concert version of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot. Held on Thursday, May 1, and Saturday, May 3, 7 p.m., at Orchestra Hall, the performances are headlined by soprano Christine Goerke in the title role and tenor Limmie Pulliam as her mysterious suitor. The Minnesota Orchestra last performed Turandot 40 years ago in August 1980 Sommerfest concerts led by Leonard Slatkin. 

Søndergård has cited “opera in concert”—that is, opera concerts focusing on music and vocal performance rather than theatrical productions with full staging and costumes—as one of his programming priorities with the Minnesota Orchestra, noting that orchestral musicians don’t often have the chance to play operatic repertoire. “My musical upbringing was in an opera house and opera is in my blood,” he said. “Puccini knew the art of music drama and how to depict feelings through music. I can’t wait to share his Turandot with the Orchestra and some of the best singers for these roles.” In addition to Goerke and Pulliam, the cast includes Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha as Liù and Adolfo Carrado as Timur, as well as the Minnesota Chorale and Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs. (See below for a full cast list.)

Known as one of the great composers of Italian opera, Puccini wrote 12 operas in his lifetime, the final being Turandot, which was left unfinished when he died in 1924. Conductor Arturo Toscanini led its premiere at La Scala in 1926 with an ending composed by composer-pianist Franco Alfano, and the work has subsequently entered the operatic pantheon as a quintessential Puccini score, full of high drama, unabashedly romantic melody and lush orchestration. Set in ancient China, the story revolves around Princess Turandot, who plans to marry a suitor who can answer three riddles—and to kill those who fail. The third act features one of opera’s best-known and loved arias, sung by Turandot’s suitor Calaf, the soaring “Nessun dorma.”

New York native Christine Goerke was a rising star lyrical soprano when vocal troubles struck in 2003, nearly derailing her career. “It all happened so fast that when I hit a brick wall, it was terrifying,” she explained in a 2017 New York Times interview. Recognizing that her voice was growing too large for the lyric roles she had been singing, she pulled back, retrained—and defying the odds—charted a new course as one of the world’s top dramatic sopranos. In 2019 she embraced the ultimate operatic challenge, triumphing in the role of Brunnhilde in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. She has also performed Turandot at the Met, most recently in its 2021 production, with OperaWire praising her for “wonderfully navigating the extremes between Turandot’s crueler, regal nature, and her passionate humanity.” Goerke made her Minnesota Orchestra debut in 2009 performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. 

Limmie Pulliam’s story is also one of overcoming odds. Launching a vocal career in the 1990s, the Missouri native quit singing in his 20s following numerous rejections and took up work as a debt collector and security guard, eventually starting his own security firm. In 2007, he sang the national anthem at a campaign event for Barack Obama, among other events. “And in doing so, I noticed some very interesting changes in my voice,” he said. “It had taken on a more mature, burnished quality. And it had grown substantially in size. And it really piqued my interest as to the type of repertoire I could possibly sing with this new instrument.” Over a period of years he relaunched his career, singing in smaller opera houses before making his Metropolitan Opera debut as Radamès in Verdi’s Aida in 2023. He is making his role debut as Calaf in Turandot this season, first performing it in an April benefit concert at the University of Houston alongside Christine Goerke before making his Minnesota Orchestra debut.  

South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha won the Song Prize at the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and most recently was awarded the 2024 Herbert von Karajan Prize. She has performed the role of Liù in Turandot at Washington National Opera, Hamburg State Opera and with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in a tour of Japan. She’ll also perform the role at the Metropolitan Opera this fall.

Italian bass Adolfo Corrado was named the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2023. He also won the LXXIII Edition of the International Competition 2022, earning the role of Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He has sung at opera houses throughout Europe under the direction of conductors from Gianandrea Noseda to Zubin Mehta.

Thomas Søndergård and opera  

Thomas Søndergård’s connection to opera goes back to childhood: “I remember sitting in the [opera house] seats when I was very young, these old beautiful red seats, with the smell of history in the whole building, and thinking: I must do everything I can to work in a place like this.” 

He made his conducting debut in the opera sphere, leading a 2005 production of Poul Ruders’ Kafka’s Trial with the Royal Danish Opera that launched him into the international spotlight. (“The orchestra played brilliantly for the dynamic conductor Thomas Søndergård,” wrote The New York Times.)  He has since returned many times to conduct the Royal Danish Opera and has also enjoyed collaborations with the Norwegian Opera and Royal Swedish Opera, which led to his debut with the Bavarian State Opera. He made his Deutsche Oper Berlin debut in 2017 with the world premiere of Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini’s Edward II and has since returned for Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet; he most recently led Strauss’ Elektra in Berlin.

Minnesota Orchestra Opera in Concert 
SØNDERGÅRD CONDUCTS PUCCINI’S TURANDOT  

Thursday, May 1, 2025, 7 p.m. / Orchestra Hall
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 7 p.m. / Orchestra Hall 

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Christine Goerke, soprano (Turandot)
Limmie Pulliam, tenor (Calaf)
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano (Liù)
Adolfo Corrado, bass (Timur)
Sean Michael Plumb, baritone (Ping)
Brian Wallin, tenor (Pang)
Daniel Montenegro, tenor (Pong)
Benjamin Sieverding, bass (A Mandarin) 
Errin Duane Brooks, tenor (Emperor Altoum)
Minnesota Chorale
Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs 

PUCCINI                       Turandot 

Tickets: $41-139 
__________________________________________________________________

TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION

Tickets can be purchased at minnesotaorchestra.org or by calling 612-371-5656. For groups of 10 or more, call 612-371-5662.

The 2024-2025 Classical Season is presented by Ameriprise Financial.

These activities are made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.

PRESS CONTACTS

Gwen Pappas, Vice President of Communications and Public Relations 
gpappas@mnorch.org

Alexandra Robinson, Content and Communications Manager
arobinson@mnorch.org