In 1996, to mark the 70th anniversary of the premiere of Puccini's opera Turandot, Teatro Comunale di Firenze, the prestigious opera house in Florence, Italy, sent a fax to Chinese director Zhang Yimou.

It invited him to direct a new production of the classic opera.

Zhang, who then knew nothing about this Western masterpiece, read the fax and put it away.

The opera house kept contacting Zhang but did not get a "yes" until a few months later, when Zhang mentioned it to composer Zhao Jiping, who has written the scores for many of Zhang's films.

"The Italians want me to direct an opera called Turandot. What can I do? I know nothing about opera. Who is Puccini? What is Turandot about?" the director asked of the composer.

"What?" Zhao exclaimed. "Did you say Turandot? If they invite you to direct Turandot, you should do it. It's one of the greatest operas in the world."

So began the film director's explorations in theater and his bond with Turandot. He staged it in Florence in 1997 with Zubin Mehta taking the baton, and the next year, presented it at the Forbidden City, bringing the Chinese princess back home for the first time. Since then, he has also directed arena editions of the opera to tour Paris, Seoul and Munich. Zhang has won much praise from the West for giving the princess a warm interpretation.

Now, a year after directing the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the celebrated director will once again draw attention to the Bird's Nest when two shows of his latest edition of the opera run on Oct 6 and 7.

With an investment of 120 million yuan ($17.6 million), an international cast and the same production team that put on the Opening Ceremony of last year's Olympic Games, this Bird's Nest Turandot, says Zhang, is "the most unique" of all his versions.

"In the past 80 years, Turandot has been performed again and again in every opera house throughout the world. The arias remain the same and the story never changes. What people want to see is a different presentation, and that's what the director can do," says Zhang.

In 1998, the Forbidden City provided a live setting and created a very real sense of the story unfolding at the royal palace, Zhang explains.

"This time, I had to do a very modern version. The Bird's Nest is Beijing's new landmark, the iconic image of modern China. It's interesting to present a classical opera in a trendy way at such a modern venue," he says.

When Zhang says "trendy" he is referring to the use of multimedia effects, which his team used well at last year's Opening Ceremony.

"The use of multimedia techniques can be seen often in today's shows. Every director uses it. It is like everybody can write, however, the stories they write read very differently. I believe this multimedia Turandot is unique," says Zhang.

Remember last year's Chinese ink painting scroll? This time, Zhang lets it stand as the backdrop. The 1,000 sq m scroll will display an animated movie purporting to tell the story throughout the two-hour, three-act show. For the first time, the film director gives full play to his expertise in visual art.

"In traditional theater works, the settings tell the time and place of the story. This time, we use abstract visual images and moving pictures to portray the essence of the roles," says Professor Yang Qingsheng of Beijing Academy of Film, and the man behind the animation.

Yang is the new blood in Zhang's 13-year-old Turandot crew, which includes associate director Chen Weiya, set designer Gao Guangjiang, costume designer Zeng Li and lighting designer Sha Xiaolan.

Yang says the animated movie does not tell the full story and just features some abstract images.

Zhang has also invited artist Song Xiaoming to paint five Chinese ink paintings to be used in the animated movie. The paintings portray five scenes of the opera: Turandot's ancestor, who is kidnapped and tortured by the invader, which is why Turandot hates the foreign princes; the Prince of Persia's execution when he fails to answer Turandot's three riddles; Calaf striking the gong that hangs in front of the palace three times, declaring himself the suitor; how no-one sleeps in the night when Turandot tries to find out Calaf's name; and the grand wedding in the end.

Zhang's Turandot tells a warm story of love. "In most Western productions, Turandot is as cold as ice and the opera is dark and depressing. We Chinese cannot understand such a cruel princess. In our show, we trace the reason she wants to kill all the suitors. We want to highlight love in her heart instead of hate," says associate director Chen Weiya.

The opera's international cast and Italian conductor Janos Acs are now in Beijing for the final rehearsals.

The Italian soprano Raffaella Angeletti will sing Turandot with Chinese tenor Dai Yuqiang as Calaf on Oct 6. The second night's Turandot will be American Susan Foster with Hong Kong tenor Warren Mok as Calaf. Both nights will feature Chinese soprano Yao Hong as Liu.

"I conducted Zhang's Turandot in Paris and Munich. I am fully confident that the Bird's Nest production will be a great success," says conductor Acs.