'Turandot: Christopher Tin Finale' and the 2026 Winter Olympic Games
Christopher conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road. Photo by Meg Redmond
Christopher’s acclaimed completion of Giacomo Puccini's final opera 'Turandot' is due for release in early 2026. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios (London, UK), the music will also be featured as the accompaniment to star figure skater Yuma Kagiyama's free skate program in his 2025-2026 season, which culminates in his competition at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Kagiyama is hailed as Japan's top figure skater, and his many awards include a silver medal from the 2022 Winter Olympics. The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Milan, Italy, which means that Christopher's new ending, or finale, of 'Turandot' will be heard in Puccini's hometown, coincidentally on the 100th-anniversary of the premiere of the opera in Teatro La Scala.
Christopher's collaboration with Kagiyama came about through his choreographer, Lori Nichol and collaborator Carolina Kostner. An illustrious hall-of-famer, Lori Nichol was a longtime fan of Christopher's music and has choreographed multiple routines to his previous work. When Christopher started posting on X about all the figure skating routines he had been seeing to his music, he was contacted by Carolina Kostner, an extraordinarily distinguished figure skater and Olympic bronze medalist herself, now also the artistic assistant to Nichol.
Yuma Kagiyama, 2022 Olympic Silver Medalist, Mens Figure Skating
Working carefully through the goals and nuances of the new figure skating program, Christopher, Carolina Kostner, Lori Nichol and Yuma Kagiyama felt that a suite from Christopher’s new finale of ‘Turandot’ would be the perfect music to perform to, and so the plan to record it rolled into action.
Puccini had composed most of ‘Turandot’ before his death in 1924 but the final duet and conclusion to the opera remained unfinished. Commissioned from Christopher by visionary director Francesca Zambello and Washington National Opera, and with a libretto by Emmy-winning playwright Susan Soon He Stanton, the new ending premiered at the Kennedy Center on May 11, 2024 and was hailed a huge success by the critics and audiences alike. Recording took place in June at Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Christopher), and the English National Opera Chorus (singing in Italian, and conducted by Matthew Quinn). The recording is due for release in early 2026 and the EP ('Turandot: Christopher Tin Finale') will feature both Christopher's new ending in its entirety, as well as a shorter concert suite version.
Turandot, Francesca Zambello production, Washington National Opera. Photo by Cory Weaver
Its sound and attitude, while contemporary, grow organically from Puccini’s original, like a savvy modern addition on a historic building. Mr. Tin launches their confrontation with a fiercely dramatic duet; the sound is edgier than Puccini but still tonal, and Turandot’s initial insistence on power through violence is Wagnerian in scope and accompanied by blaring brass.
Even without the new ending — and Tin’s splendid musical additions, which draw sensibly from Puccini’s score while applying an entirely new emotional finish — Zambello’s “Turandot” crackles with fresh energy and some truly extraordinary singing.
Tin’s score is exceptional... Tin is a master of musical embroidery and subtle Puccini references abound, connecting the final scene convincingly to what goes before... Christopher Tin should be reflecting on this success. He has established his opera street cred and it’s time for him to commit to a full work. It is talent like his that will lead the next generation into opera houses around the world.
[Translated from Italian]: Christopher Tin succeeded in the balancing act between respecting the Puccini of the two previous acts, the Puccini of the incomplete sketches and his own personality as a composer of today... In my opinion, this ending does not look out of place alongside Alfano's (first or second) and could very well enter the repertoire as a variant of the classical standard.
Composer Christopher Tin is a two-time Grammy award winner. Perhaps that gave him the courage to compose new music in juxtaposition to some of Puccini’s greatest when this is his first opera composition... My hearing was that it was a job well done, interesting in orchestration, pleasing to the ear, and working well coupled to the vocals containing the new libretto.
Musically, Tin incorporates the same fragments Puccini left at his death, though often in novel ways—for instance, the tune for “Mio Fiore,” usually Calaf’s insistent love song, becomes a part of Turandot’s memory of her assault. The neo-romantic mode of Tin’s orchestration feels broadly continuous with the main score, though Tin adds some interesting details from traditional Chinese music and instrumentation.
This new World Premiere also adds the enticing music of composer Christopher Tin to the finale of this production---so we have the ravishingly soaring music of the revered composer Giacomo Puccini as well as the contributions of this refreshing modern composer.
But Tin, who is best known for his film and video game soundtracks, prides himself on making his work accessible. "To me if you've come up with a great melody, boy, you've done 80% of the work, right there," he says. "A great tune lasts forever."
In 2024, Tin made an impressive debut in the opera world when he was commissioned to compose a new ending for the reimagined production of Giacomo Puccini’s venerable opera Turandot, which premiered at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
To craft new music for this revised story, Zambello turned to Tin, a Grammy award-winning composer who has written for film, TV and video game soundtracks.
Puccini died just before he could finish writing the opera, so the Washington National Opera enlisted a pair of powerhouses to write the last 10 minutes of the piece: Grammy-winning composer Christopher Tin (the video game “Civilization IV”) and acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Susan Soon He Stanton (HBO’s “Succession”).
... this reimagining of “Turandot” is a perfect example of opera’s power to cross time and appeal to a modern audience. From its new time period to its complex and riveting tale about nature and the power of love, this production is sure to please everyone from the seasoned opera buff to the first-time viewer.
[Tin's] music convincingly extends Puccini’s idiom to encompass these new dramatic ideas, and draws out shades of meaning that the libretto implies... Zambello and the WNO deserve credit for taking a risk here, and Stanton and Tin deserve kudos for making it pay off.
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Christopher conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road. Photo by Meg Redmond
Yuma Kagiyama, 2022 Olympic Silver Medalist, Mens Figure Skating
Turandot, Francesca Zambello production, Washington National Opera. Photo by Cory Weaver
Yonghoon Lee as Calaf. Photo by Cory Weaver
