BUTTERFLY in Music & Vision 22 maggio

An Excellent Staging 'Madama Butterfly' at Rome's Teatro dell'Opera, appreciated by GIUSEPPE PENNISI The Teatro dell'Opera of Rome is in a very severe financial stringency. Its management is attempting to overcome this by making savings on new productions and by reviving old productions with an eye to the audience's favorites and, of course, to the box office. It is not a bad idea because it gives the opportunity to see some very good yet old productions that, in a 'season theatre', after a few performances, tend to disappear forever. Madama Butterfly, on the Rome Opera stage until 28 May 2010, is a case in point. This production was originally conceived for the 'Teatro Comunale' of Bologna as part of a program where young stage directors would work side-by-side with well-known architects. There it had its début in 1986. Since then, it has been seen in many Italian and French theatres. In Rome, this very production was shown in 2002. It is an excellent staging, based on a three-level Japanese house and with the lighting and, hence, the backdrop tint, following the music's pace, mood and colors. The stage set is a very ingenious idea by the late architect Aldo Rossi.
A scene from Act I of 'Madama Butterfly' at Teatro dell'Opera. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini Stefano Vizioli is no longer a young promise but a well-known mature stage director. Within the sets, he reads the drama quite elegantly. Firstly, the opera is presented with only one intermission (as originally conceived); the traditional Paris 1906 version is followed, not the much more gruesome, and rather racist, 1904 Milan version. Most of the usual 'cuts' are opened up, which makes us appreciate Puccini's coloration and timbre, especially in the orchestration. Secondly, Vizioli rightly emphasizes the double transformation of Cio-Cio-San from a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl to a pretending-to-be-American (in clothing, attire, hair-do) spouse and finally to a grown up Japanese woman (in Japanese formal dress) when the suicide decision is taken. Pinkerton is the usual 'ugly American', even if attractive and seductive, Sharpless a sensitive bureaucrat and Suzuki the loyal and intelligent woman who is able to decode the cultural clash around her.
A scene from 'Madama Butterfly' at Teatro dell'Opera. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini The Teatro dell'Opera put on three different casts, including a guest appearance by Neil Shicoff (no longer the tenor who enthralled New York and Vienna). This review is based on the 20 May 2010 performance. The conductor of the three casts is Daniel Oren, very well acquainted with both Puccini and the Rome audience. Puccini shared with two other giants of twentieth century opera -- Richard Strauss and Leos Janácek -- the knack of writing phrases that would be always instantly recognized. Part of this knack was an in-born instinct for melody, but he also knew when to stop. In fact, the melodic parts never last too long and, especially in Madama Butterfly, they leave the listener wanting more. Also, Puccini was a very meticulous orchestrator: in Madama Butterfly some forty themes intertwine, not as many as the sixty in Tosca, but a sufficient number to be a challenge to the conductor and to the orchestra. Oren pleases the audience by emphasizing the melodies (especially the three ariosos 'Dovunque al mondo lo Yankee vagabondo', 'Un bel dì vedremo' and 'Addio fiorito asil'), but also by letting the more sophisticated listener appreciate the treasures of the orchestration. Amarilli Nizza was Cio-Cio-San/Butterfly. She is a veteran of the role -- attractive, slender and excellent in acting. Your reviewer criticized her taking up both Margerita and Elena in a recent Mefistofele, but Butterfly suited her perfectly, and she received real well-deserved accolades and requests for encores. She a good acute but she did particularly well in the very difficult mezza voce. Her legato was exquisite. A scene from 'Madama Butterfly' at Teatro dell'Opera with Amarilli Nizza (left) as Cio-Cio-San and Marco Berti
(right) as Pinkerton. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini Marco Berti was Pinkerton. He has gained some weight; his frequent singing of Trovatore, Aida and Don José in Carmen has made him a stentorious tenor spinto, maybe excessively so in the first part. He kept high Cs quite at length and with his clear timbre his legato was quite good. His mezza voce was not exceptional. Amarilli Nizza as Cio-Cio-San in 'Madama Butterfly' at Teatro dell'Opera. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini Franco Vassallo and Francesca Franci were effective as Sharpless and Suzuki, and all the many others were also good. A special mention goes to chorus master Andrea Giorgi for the pathos in the 'hum-hum' choral intermezzo in the second part of the opera. Copyright © 23 May 2010 Giuseppe Pennisi, Rome, Italy GIACOMO PUCCINI MADAMA BUTTERFLY TEATRO DELL'OPERA ROME
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