Madama Butterfly is a wonderful opera with a touching story and some of Puccini's most gorgeous music. So I always hope for a production of it to have the same effect. And while this Netherlands production is not exactly your traditional Butterfly, it does have a number of great assets to it. It is quite an austere Butterfly in colour, but apart from the wedding scene which I think should have been more opulent and authentic this approach worked. The austerity doesn't look ugly thank goodness, thanks to some of the most intricate lighting I've seen in any production recently. And I liked that there was little props or action, there's a deeper intimacy with the characters and music when the stage business is not cluttered or over-populated. The hand movements and how the performers move are very stylised, and I imagine very hard to learn, but what was really impressive here was how well together and how sensitive the body language was.
From a musical viewpoint, the production is really quite excellent. The orchestra bring out the poetry and pathos of the score wonderfully with beautiful colour. The chorus are engaging and make a very attractive sound. Edo De Waart's conducting is similarly impressive, a little stiff to start with but very quickly paces things sensitively with elegant phrasing and musicianship. Cheryl Barker is not your idea of girlish and never does in this production, so Cio Cio San's character growth is not as effective but her heartfelt acting, evenly produced voice that is both resplendent in sound and commanding. Martin Thompson sings with handsome tone and assured lyrical style but at the same time it is a stolid and not very nuanced performance. Catherine Keen is a sympathetic Suzuki with a velvety rich voice, while Richard Stilwell's Sharpless is caring and authoritative and Peter Blanchet is as effectively repellent as a lizard as Goro.
To conclude, as well as looking and sounding great on DVD this Butterfly may be unusual but it is beautifully sung and strikingly done. 8/10 Bethany Cox
