By Agnieszka Flak
MILAN, Feb 13 (Reuters) – American composer Christopher Tin said he planned to release the special edit of his completion of Puccini’s Turandot opera that will accompany Yuma Kagiyama’s free skate at the Milano Cortina Olympics on streaming services after strong fan demand.
Tin, twice a Grammy Award winner, developed the four-minute-17-second competition cut for the Japanese skater with choreographer Lori Nichol by condensing his 18‑minute finale to accommodate jumps, footwork and built‑in rest periods to match the requirements and pacing of an elite programme.
“Because of the response from the figure skating community, I’ve decided to release Yuma’s special figure skating edit of my completion of Turandot on streaming services,” Tin, who has come to Milan to watch Kagiyama perform, said on X.
Kagiyama, a medal favourite, was due to perform his free programme later on Friday.
Tin’s move contrasts with a series of recent disputes, including at the Olympics, in which musicians have challenged skaters over permission to use their work, leading to last‑minute programme changes and public spats.
Spanish figure skater Tomas‑Llorenc Guarino Sabate was nearly prevented from performing his Minions-themed short programme at the Olympics due to a rights dispute. U.S. skater Amber Glenn was also caught up in a dispute with Canadian artist Seb McKinnon over music rights.
In both cases the concerns were eventually put to rest.
Kagiyama’s programme has drawn attention both for its timing — coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Turandot’s premiere at the La Scala opera house in Milan — and for its sweeping operatic arrangement, and is bound to resonate strongly with a home crowd steeped in the opera’s history.
Tin made sure to visit La Scala as part of his visit to Milan.
The arrangement was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the English National Opera Chorus and soloists Christine Goerke and Clay Hilley.
Giacomo Puccini died in 1924 before completing Turandot and there have been five different endings since, including Tin’s.
Kagiyama’s is not the only bespoke score that will be heard during the men’s singles free programme on Friday.
Gold-medal favourite Ilia Malinin has opted for a starkly different free skate, using his own spoken lines over his chosen soundtrack that make it sound like a meditation on pressure and possibility.
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; editing by Clare Fallon)
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