Having loved Anna Moffo in Lucia Di Lammermoor and especially La Traviata I was really looking forward to this Madama Butterfly. And it was beautiful. The photography is fuzzy and Renato Cioni's Pinkerton while better than expected, truly heartless and insensitive in the acting but rather thin and flat sometimes in the singing.
This however did not detract me from the sumptuous settings, gorgeous music(the act 1 love duet, Un Bel Di Vedremo and Humming Chorus standing out) and perhaps the most moving ending of any Madama Butterfly I've seen.
The costumes are wonderful too with a sense of sophistication to them, the orchestra play with sensitivity and pathos and the conducting appropriately genteel. The sound is surprisingly good, and the lip-synch didn't bother me. Of the support cast, Afro Poli is a very good Sharpless and Suzuki is beautifully sung and empathetic.
But this will always be Anna Moffo's film. Not only does she look beguiling, but she is heart-wrenching in her acting and her voice is still the lyrical and alluring one I fell in love with after first encountering her 1968 Traviata.
Overall, beautiful. 9/10 Bethany Cox
