Calaf expresses his conviction that he alone will reveal the secret. It is decreed that none shall sleep, under penalty of death, until the name of the Unknown Prince is discovered. Seeing her distress, Calaf offers a riddle of his own: “If before morning you can discover the name I bear, I shall forfeit my life.” The first question is offered: “What is born each night and dies each dawn?” Calàf correctly answers “Hope.” Slightly taken aback, Turandot poses the next riddle: “What flares warm like a flame, yet it is no flame?” Calaf hesitates, then answers perfectly “Blood.” Visibly shaken, Turandot asks the final question: “The ice that gives you fire, what can it be?” Calaf tarries, then triumphantly cries “Turandot!” The people celebrate his victory, but Turandot pleads with the emperor not to be given to this Unknown Prince. She offers Calaf one last chance to withdraw, but he stands firm. Turandot devised this system to avenge her ancestress, Lo-u Ling, who was captured, raped, and put to death by marauding invaders.
Is there truly a man whose passion can melt Turandot’s icy heart? Their hopes are guarded.Ī crowd assembles for the Trial of the Three Enigmas. They discuss their misery since Turandot reached marriageable age, numbering the many noble suitors who have met a deadly fate and reminiscing about life in their native provinces. Ping, Pang, and Pong prepare for the eventuality of a wedding or a funeral.
Liù begs him to listen, but Calaf ignores her entreaties and ceremoniously rings the gong, signifying his challenge for Turandot’s hand. The three ministers of the Imperial Household, Ping, Pang, and Pong, warn him of his folly, to no avail. Timur and Liù try to convince the smitten Calàf that he must leave with them, but he breaks away and attempts to announce himself as a suitor. Calaf immediately is entranced by her beauty. Turandot appears and dispassionately confirms the Prince’s sentence with a silent gesture. As the Prince of Persia enters, the crowd is suddenly moved and pleads with the Princess to pardon him. The people impatiently await the beheading. Liù continues to aid Timur even in exile because years before, as she explains, Calaf bestowed a smile upon her. Calaf, like his father, is running from enemies and concealing his identity, and is known only as the Unknown Prince.
They are aided by Calaf, who recognizes the man as his long-lost father, Timur, the banished ruler of his land. In the commotion outside the palace a blind man falls to the ground, and his companion, Liù, asks for help. Her most recent suitor, the Prince of Persia, is to be executed at the moon’s rising. If he cannot, the price shall be his head. Turandot, daughter of Emperor Altoum, has decreed that she will only marry if a suitor of noble blood can answer three riddles.
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