Nearly always hunting for suitable subjects, Puccini found his interest piqued in 1911 by the "amorous passion of Turandot, which she has smothered so long beneath the ashes of her pride." The composer's death in 1924, however, meant that he would leave this opera set in a fabulous China behind unfinished. Later completed by Franco Alfano, Turandot even in this form would go on to become a hit opera from the moment of its world première: for example, it was hardly half a year later, in the autumn of 1926, that the piece first made it to the Met, where it has been performed more than 330 times so far. Zeffirelli's 1987 staging was a veritable milestone in Turandot's history in New York, with critic after critic initially likening its aggressive visual world to a Chinese restaurant or even a laundry. Joining both this production that has long been established as a classic and the Met's succession of great Turandots (with Birgit Nilsson and Éva Marton among her predecessors) will be the Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska, who has previously sung the role with the National Opera of Ukraine and, in Moscow, with the Bolshoi. The other female principal performing under the baton of Marco Armiliato will be the young American soprano Michelle Bradley, who will get the opportunity to portray little Liù.

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