The Italian opera "Turandot" selected many Chinese folk songs. The fragrance of the Chinese folk song "Jasmine" spreads wider overseas with the spread of this opera classic.
"Turandot" is a three-act opera adapted from the fairy tale by the famous Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. It tells the people a Chinese legendary story imagined by Westerners. The story of Turandot first appeared in the 17th-century collection of oriental stories "One Thousand and One Nights" and "Turandot" by an unknown Persian. The Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi wrote it into a script in 1762. Later, the German poet Schiller translated and adapted Turandot from Goetz's play, which is his masterpiece. Because it tells Chinese stories, there must be a lot of Chinese folk songs.
"Jasmine" has been popular all over the country since ancient times and has various variations. However, the song popular in the Jianghuai and Jiangnan areas is the most widely spread and the most representative. Her melody is euphemistic, with smooth fluctuations and delicate emotions. By praising jasmine, she implicitly expresses the simple and gentle feelings between men and women. As early as the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, its lyrics were published in the collection of opera scripts "Embellished with White Qiu", which shows that it has been around for a long time. At the end of the 18th century, a foreigner wrote down her tunes, and the lyrics were expressed in free English and Chinese pinyin. Later, another British man named John Bello came to China and served as the secretary of the first British Ambassador to China. In 1804, he published his book "Travels in China". Perhaps in his eyes, "Jasmine Flower" is the representative of Chinese folk songs, so he deliberately published the score of "Jasmine Flower" in his book, and this song became the first Chinese folk song spread overseas in the form of publications. It began to spread in Europe and South America. In 1924, the world-famous opera master and Italian composer Puccini died after completing the first draft of the opera "Turandot" while suffering from cancer. The play is set in the Yuan Dynasty of China and tells the fictional story of Turandot, a beautiful but cold princess. Puccini took the tune of "Jasmine" as one of the main musical materials of the play, adapted its original tune into a female chorus, and added that the characters in the play all wore Yuan Dynasty costumes, thus making a play entirely written and performed by foreigners. Chinese stories have Chinese colors and flavors. In 1926, the play premiered in Italy and achieved great success. Since then, the fragrance of the Chinese folk song "Jasmine" has spread wider overseas with the spread of this opera classic.