PUCCINI : MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Radio New Zealand Concert network
Sunday 25th of February 2007
Sunday 12th of April 2009
Friday 7th of August 2009
Sunday 27th of December 2009
Sunday 16th of December 2012
Sunday 2nd of March 2014 at 6.03 - 9.30 pm

Sunday 1st of May 2016 at 6.04 - 9.35 pm
PUCCINI: Madama Butterfly, an opera in two acts
A Japanese geisha marries an American naval officer, and what is for her a life-and-death commitment is for him a passing fancy
2016
Cio-Cio-San................. Kristine Opolais
Suzuki.......................... Maria Zifchak
Pinkerton..................... Roberto Alagna
Sharpless...................... Dwayne Croft
Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orch/Karel Mark Chichon2014
Cio-Cio San...................... Amanda Echalaz
Suzuki.............................. Elizabeth DeShong
Pinkerton.......................... Bryan Hymel
Sharpless.......................... Scott Hendricks
Goro................................. Tony Stevenson
Prince Yamadori.............. Alexey Lavrov
The Bonze........................ Ryan Speedo Green
Uncle Yakuside................ Craig Montgomery
Imperial Commissioner... Paul Corona
Registrar........................... Juhwan Lee
Kate Pinkerton................. Maya Lahyani
Mother.............................. Belinda Oswald
Aunt.................................. Jean Braham
Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orch/Philippe Auguin

INTRODUCTION
SYNOPSIS 
ANALYSIS
LIBRETTO
REVIEW (2014)
REVIEW (2014)
REVIEW (2014)
REVIEW (2016)

After a hostile audience rejected this opera on its first night, in Milan, Puccini made continual alterations, and the score went through a number of revised editions.

For the record, the discs I have are: Barbirolli with Scotto and Bergonzi (highlights); Karajan with Freni and Pavarotti; I have recently (2012) acquired a videotape version of Karajan's interpretation; the cast is the same as on the audio disc, but Domingo, not Pavarotti, sings the role of Pinkerton.

As a highlight titbit, I offer my translation of the moving aria, in which Madam Butterfly, alias Cio-Cio-San (formerly a teenage geisha), and now Mrs (Benjamin Franklin) Pinkerton, dismisses the doubts of her maid Suzuki, and expresses her confidence that her American sailor will soon come home from the sea. (I know the type: my aunty had one in Sydney during World War 2; Ted (with a surname I mistakenly thought was Buckshot) was not a lieutenant, as Pinkerton was, but he had access to the essential supplies, and he introduced me to cola, cashews, and chewing gum; I used to wear one of his white caps, and take a woolen doll-effigy of him to bed with me, while she had the real thing. Does this account for my present love-hate relationship with the USA?)

Un bel di vedremo levarsi un fil di fumo ....
One fine day we shall see a thread of smoke arising, far out on the horizon of the sea, and then the ship will appear. The white ship will enter the port and thunder his salute. You see? He has arrived! I will not go down to meet him. No, I will stand there on the brow of the hill and wait, for a long time, and I will not mind the long wait. And from the city crowd a tiny speck will emerge, a man, making his way up the hill. Who will it be? And when he arrives, what will he say? From a distance he will call out "Butterfly". Without answering I will stay hidden, partly as a joke, and partly so as not to die when we first meet. And he will be a bit worried, and will call out: "Dear little wife" and "Verbena Perfume", the names he gave me when he first came here. All this is going to happen, I promise you. Have no fear. I will wait for him with unshakable faith.

I can remember seeing two film versions of this opera (one with a Chinese soprano for local colour); and a performance in Sydney with Joan Carden and Anson Austin (of NZ), and one in Melbourne which so affected me that I could not face the last scene, and I walked out of the theatre, got on my bike, and went home for safety and consolation.

The hara-kiri (belly-cutting), not pronounced 'hurry-curry', is ritual suicide done with a Samurai sword, but this lady uses a short sword, or a long dagger, sometimes even described as a knife.

2007

RNZ Concert (as they are now so pleased to call themselves) will have broadcast Madam Butterfly twice in February 2007. (I am not complaining, though my gripes begin below). The first was a Jewish version (my great grandmother on my father's side was Jewish, so I am allowed to say this), a West Asian concert performance of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, with Italian singers. This NY Metropera production is not East Asian, either, and the conductor is Jewish, too, namely James Levine, this being the fourth opera we have heard him conducting in this season: two of Mozart, one of Verdi, and now a Puccini, with another Puccini (make that three Puccini, Il Trittico), a Monteverdi (Orfeo), and a Wagner (Mastersingers) yet to come.

And we are all sincerely grateful to our national broadcaster for providing these delightful treats for us. Though we don't receive it through "Radio New Zealand National" (there is one political party, which thinks that this station is hostile to it, but its members will rejoice every time the name is broadcast, as offering free advertising for them). It does not come via "Concert FM", either.

No, "Radio New Zealand Concert" is the terse new brand-name, and is not really meant to mean anything meaningful; we are supposed to supply the missing word, "network", or "channel", or whatever; it is just one more of their irritating "sounds like us" things. They want the "us" to be inclusive (like Maaori taatou, including the persons spoken to, not maatou, excluding the listeners), but with their commercial-style self-promoting sound-bites they are in danger of biting the hand that feeds them and alienating their listeners. They employ genial "announcers" to tell us what is going on, but these days we are hearing actors declaiming "quotable quotes" and ending with the grand flourish: "Radio New Zealand ........ Concert" (the pregnant pause does not help us make sense of the trade-mark they are trying to staple to our ears and imprint on our brains). But wait, there's more: instead of leaving the competent people at the front desk to inform us about coming programmes, the back-room boys and girls insist on making intrusive recordings to add to the load of the announcers, who have to work all the machines as well (except the midnight-till-six segment, where a coin is apparently put in the slot of the juke-box, and it plays on merrily without supervision ... until a compact disc jams on a chord and transmits that as unbearable noise without ceasing, till a human arrives to start the breakfast programme and tame the beast). There are so many discs to insert, tracks to cue up, and buttons to press, that the announcers regularly get it wrong, and have to apologize profusely: wrong player, disc, track, promo (aired after the programme is past).

Here is a funny little disaster, which allows me to mention Elgar, who only composed one (unfinished) opera, namely The Spanish Lady, but several oratorios. Rick Young speaks clearly and relates to us affably, and gives us some nice concise introductions to the music he plays (though he sometimes mispronounces foreign words). However, on this occasion he took no account of the origin and context of the piece (the triumphal march from Elgar's Caractacus) and chose to dedicate it to the NZ cricket team for their recent victory over Australia. I was in complete agreement, at first, because even though I am still an Australian citizen (but a loyal and committed New Zealand resident) I am reluctant to support a team that uses bad language and bullying tactics, and they deserved a bit of humiliation (though Matthew Hayden is a good Christian mensh, as we Yiddish folk say, and he merits an honourable mention for his score of 181 not out and his broken toe). The problem with the symbolism is that we are witnessing a Roman triumph, in which King Caractacus and his defeated Britons are being dragged before the Emperor Claudius to grovel in submission. Should we identify with the Britons, or the Romans? It does not seem to work for us in this case, nor for the Australians' defeat in the tri-nations series, but it could be applicable to England's loss of the Ashes. Anyway, it all turned to custard when the disc seized up in the machine and required urgent intervention. (As the great Neville Cardus demonstrated, cricket and classical music are inseparable, by the way.)

Never mind. Three cheers and then one more for Radio New Zealand. With all their faults we love them still.

The midday arts magazine is good. They all have turns at presenting it capably, but Charlotte Wilson was lovely (she said she would keep my fond farewell message to her!); and Eva Radich sure knows what she is talking about.

But if the endless interruptions to the music get too tiresome, here in Palmerston North we have two other fine music FM stations to turn to (The Gramophone Room and Perfect Pitch), both operated as a free public service by John Ward, with an opera most nights of the week.

(Email: contact@thegramophoneroom.co.nz)

The NY Metropera links do not work now, but some of them take you to the site and the booking-office.
COMPOSER
CHARACTERS
SYNOPSIS
STORYLINE
BACKGROUND
UNDERGROUND
ANALYSIS
LIBRETTO

2012
PUCCINI: Madama Butterfly, an opera in three acts
A Japanese geisha marries an American naval officer; for her it is a life-and-death commitment, but for him it is merely a passing fancy
Madama Butterfly....... Mirella Freni
Pinkerton..................... Luciano Pavarotti
Suzuki.......................... Christa Ludwig
Sharpless...................... Robert Kerns
Goro............................. Michel Sénéchal
Bonze........................... Marius Rintzler
Kate Pinkerton............. Elke Schary
Prince Yamadori.......... Giorgio Stendoro
Commissioner.............. Hans Helm
Yakuside...................... Wolfgang Schneider
Registrar...................... Siegfried Rudolf Frese
Konzertvereinigung, Vienna State Opera Chorus,
Vienna Phil/Herbert von Karajan (Decca 417 578)

 Sunday 12th of April 2009
Cio-Cio San.................. Patricia Racette
Suzuki........................... Maria Zifchak
Pinkerton...................... Marcello Giordani
Sharpless...................... Dwayne Croft
Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orch/Patrick Summers

Direct from Auckland Town Hall
PUCCINI: Madame Butterfly, an opera in two acts
Butterfly........................ Svetlana Katchour
Pinkerton...................... Patrick Power
Suzuki........................... Anna Pierard
Sharpless...................... Jared Holt
Goro............................. Richard Greager
Bonze........................... Richard Green
Yamadori...................... Matthew Landreth
Kate Pinkerton.............. Kate Spence
New Zealand Opera Chorus, Auckland Philharmonia/Eckehard Stier (RNZ)

Sunday 27th of December 2009
2009 Gramophone Awards Best Opera Recording
PUCCINI: Madama Butterfly, an opera in two acts
Butterfly........................ Angela Gheorghiu
Pinkerton...................... Jonas Kaufmann
Suzuki........................... Enkelejda Shkosa
Sharpless...................... Fabio Capitanucci
Goro............................. Gregory Bonfatti
Bonze........................... Raymond Aceto
Kate Pinkerton.............. Cristina Reale
Commissioner............... Massimo Simeoli
Yakusidé....................... Massimiliano Tonsini
St Cecilia Academy Chorus & Orch/Antonio Pappano (EMI 2 64187)
Three broadcasts in 2009!