The riddles of 'Turandot'

Answer her three riddles correctly and you had her heart.

Get them wrong and she had your head.

Tucson-born tenor Antonio Nagore will play Calaf, the intrepid prince who takes her life-or-death challenge, when Arizona Opera presents "Turandot" at the Tucson Music Hall this weekend.

"I'm the worst at solving riddles," Nagore joked during a recent phone interview from Phoenix. "I'm just glad I memorized them properly when I started doing this opera."

Nagore, 52, is confident in his abilities playing Calaf. He has performed the role more times than he can count in his 27 years as an opera singer.

Nagore's résumé is extensive, including more than 60 collaborations with orchestras, symphonies and opera houses around the world.

Yet "Turandot" still remains one of his favorite works.

"Puccini is very interesting, because he hides little gems that you all of a sudden pick up and say, 'Oh, that's what that's about,' " he explained. "You always find something new."

Nagore said this particular version of "Turandot" will be different from what opera fans - including those who caught Arizona Opera's last staging of the work more than a decade ago - might be used to seeing.

Calaf, for one, is more heroic.

"He is without fear," Nagore said. "Sometimes it is played where the tenor is unsure during the second and third riddles."

The operatic protagonist also has more of an emotional connection with Turandot (played by soprano Othalie Graham) and less of one with the slave girl, Liu (played by Jill Gardner).

"My relationship with Liu is more according to class," he said. "She is a slave, and I am a prince. I am much closer with Turandot. Usually directors like to play Calaf and Turandot separate until the last bloody second. Even after the kiss, we don't touch a lot."

The constant in any production, Nagore says, is the amazing music, which this time around will be led by conductor James Meena, general director of Opera Carolina.

This is Meena's second run as conductor for "Turandot," but he has worked the production multiple times as an associate conductor, starting with his very first assignment with the Pittsburgh Opera in 1984.

"It will be like working with an old friend," Meena said in a recent phone interview.

Meena loves "Turandot" for the challenges that it presents.

"It is a sophisticated, complex score," he said. "Here, the orchestra is as important or more important than many of the musical moments happening on stage. It makes it a different challenge for the conductor. You have to balance everything, making sure it is all completely in-sync."

Nagore faces similar obstacles.

"I approach the role very viscerally, vocally," he said. "Lots of emotion. I try to color with as many phrases as I can.

"The challenge of the role is relentless. There are so many pitfalls."

Meena isn't concerned about Nagore or any other performer involved with the production.

"Only one or two of these cast members have never sung these roles before," he said. "It makes preparing a difficult piece like 'Turandot' so much easier, when the principal artists bring that level of experience and understanding."

Nagore just wants to put on a good show for his hometown audience.

Nagore is a Salpointe Catholic High School graduate with a master's degree in music performance from the University of Arizona. He made his professional debut with Arizona Opera in 1985, and he and his wife, Emily Nagore, still have family in town.

Like Calaf with his riddles, the pressure is on.

"In the long run, this has always been a very satisfying opera for me," Nagore said. "I consider myself blessed."

If you go

Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot"

• Presented by: Arizona Opera

• Conducted by: James Meena

• Featuring: Othalie Graham, Arnold Rawls, Antonio Nagore, Jill Gardner, Kevin Langan, Andrew Garland, John McVeigh, Bryan Griffin, Kevin Wetzel, Cameron Schutza and Barry Stein.

• When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

• Where: Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.

• Tickets: $20-$120 through ticketmaster.com

• Information: 1-602-266-7464 or at the Tucson Convention Center Box Office, 260 S. Church Ave., which doesn't charge the hefty service fee that Ticketmaster does.

• Et cetera: Nagore will play Calaf at the Sunday performance. Rawls will play the role on Saturday.

Gerald M. Gay, a former Star reporter, is a Tucson-based freelance writer.