Madama Butterfly is a far superior opera to La Boheme (offered in tandem as they tour the UK). Both written by Giacomo Puccini and both fall very much into the classifcation of Late Romantic Grand Opera, and yet the differences between the operas are quite astounding.
Madama Butterfly (or Madam Butterfly as it always was in my younger days.. not sure when or why the extra 'a' was added) was written a few years after La Boheme and was premiered in Italy, at La Scala, Milan in 1904. Puccini still uses the same two librettists for this opera, Giuseppe Giacoso and Luigi Illica, so their source material must have been much stronger and more powerful. In this instance, a play by David Bedasco; a short story by John Luther Long; and a novel by Pierre Loti. Both operas deal with a central female protagonist, and yet in La Boheme, the focus of the production is split between Mimi but focuses a lot too around the males, whilst in Madama Butterfly, the men hardly ever get a look in, and the role of Butterfly herself is a real tour-de-force as she is hardly ever off stage and hardly ever stops singing! Moreover Puccini wrote this as a two-act opera (quite innovative for the time!), and a single set.
This heartwrenching and emotive story has much to offer and for those of you more familiar with Musicals as opposed to opera, then the basic storyline of Miss Saigon is based on this opera. With La Boheme, Puccini went back in time to set the opera in the 1830s, but here, he was absolutely contemporary, as the opera takes place in 1904, and we are at a small villa on a hillside outside Nagasaki, Japan. [the stage was beautifully appointed and looked very authentic, although sadly the programme doesn't credit anyone with the set design] A young girl (15 years old in the libretto) is to marry an American Navy lieuteneant, Pinkerton, and the marriage and he are all that she desires. Despite being warned against such a union, knowing Americans to be fickle and never come back once wed, the marriage nevertheless takes place. Three years pass, and in that time Lt. Pinkerton has not returned, and Butterfly is eagerly awaiting the day he does, for she knows he will. In Japanese law, an absent husband indicates grounds for divorce and as such Butterfly is offered the hand in marriage of a lasicvious old nobleman who offers her wealth and a position in society. She rufuses because she is holding a secret that she has told only her maid, Suzuki, so far. Namely that she has a three-year old child by him, and that he must return to see his son. However, when he does return to Japan, it is not to visit Buterfly, and sends his friend and countryman Sharpless, the US consul to tell her that he is now married to an Anerican lady and will have nothing more to do with her. This is opera, and so, you know it's all going to end badly, and as the final curtain falls, Butterfly kills herself leaving the son to be hopefully brought up by Pinkerton and his new wife in America.
Puccini's score is much more dramatic and he writes with a maturity and a sensitivity that he had been developing since his La Boheme score. Sometimes, the opera is split into 3 acts, or as it was this evening, giving the second act two distinct scenes. However, this is, for me, the only flaw in the writing of the score. The so-called 'Humming Chorus' is a delightful and truly beautiful piece of composing and is scored for offstage female choir and orchestra, and used as the closing of the first scene of the second act, whilst the second scene opens with an entr'acte and again, nothing happens on stage. If the second act is to be played as one, then it would be far preferable for the entr'acte to be cut completely and simply get on with the storytelling. The length of time spent simply listening to the music at this point with nothing happening on stage is boring.
With more drama and more emotion to sink their teeth into, the cast responded superbly, and the quality of the acting was much more sincere and across-the-board than it was with La Boheme. Iurie Gisca still impressed greatly as the US consul, Sharpless. Not only does he have a powewrful and sonorous baritone voice, but his acting is always on point too, and here he gave a very sympathetic and human portrayal. Once again bass Vadim Chernihovskyi impressed with his cameo of The Bonze (an ordained Buddhist monk) and uncle to Cio-Cio San (Madam Butterfly's Japanese name). Elena Dee's Butterfly was lyrical and emotional, and with such a considerable role it must take its toll. However, there was only one (extremely brief) sign of that happening this evening, and as it is live performance, that is entirely and aboslutely forgiveable. Her interpretation was a little OTT for me though. Perhaps she was directed this way, but her constant arm movements and stauesque styled poses seemed false and at times were too much, distracting a little from the reality and the tragedy. Georgio Meladze, last seen by this reviewer as Radames in Aida, brought much to his role as a somewhat cold and calculating lover Lt Pinkerton, even eliciting boos at his curtain call like a panto villain! For me though, the most believable and fully-rounded characterisation, as well as a wonderfully melifluous voice, came from Myroslava Shvakh-Pekar as Butterfly's maid, Suzuki.
As always with Ellen Kent productions, involving the local community is important, and the role of the 3 year-old son this evening was played by Xin En Liang, a member of Stagecoach Theatre Arts Salford and Didsbury.
Directed and produced by Ellen Kent herself, this was a faithful and traditional, but also visually beautiful production, which had my companion and I teary-eyed at the end. Fantastic singing, impressive acting, colouful and quasi-authentic costumes and set, and The Orchestra of The Ukrainian National Opera in the pit under the baton of their director Nicolae Dohotaru. What more could you possibly wish for?!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 22/1/20
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