MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
Crotchet

 

Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924)
Madama Butterfly (1900) [138:42]
CD 1: Acts 1-2 (beginning) [63:39]
CD 2: Act 2 (conclusion) [75:03]
Maria Callas (soprano) - Butterfly
Nicolai Gedda (tenor) - Pinkerton
Lucia Danieli (mezzo) - Suzuki
Luisa Villa (mezzo) - Kate Pinkerton
Mario Borriello (baritone) - Sharpless
Renato Ercolani (tenor) - Goro
Mario Carlin (tenor) - Yamadori
Plinio Clabassi (bass) - Bonze
Enrico Campi (baritone) - Commissario
Coro del Teatro alla Scala Milano
Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala Milano/Herbert von Karajan
rec. Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1–6 August 1955. ADD. mono
EMI CLASSICS GREAT RECORDINGS OF THE CENTURY 2127112
[63:39 + 75:03] 
Experience Classicsonline


This recording, dating from 1955, is in the EMI Great Recordings of the Century series. I have to admit, to my shame, that I have not previously encountered this in its entirety although I have heard bits in highlight compilations.  Having said that, I have read lots about Callas and the vocal problems she encountered around the time this was made.  Trying to put all this previous knowledge to one side I sat and listened.

The mono sound takes a bit of getting used to but I soon became less aware of it.  The opera plot revolves round the four main characters: Sharpless, Pinkerton, Butterfly and Suzuki; the first the voice of sense and reason, the second the carefree American serviceman, the third, the disillusioned, ultimately discarded, foreign bride; and the fourth the long-suffering servant who can only look on and give what aid she can. 

Pinkerton sung by Nicolai Gedda is a much more sympathetic character than we normally encounter with interpreters of this role; they mostly sound like insensitive cads!  Listen to the way he sings after the encounter with Butterfly’s uncle, the Bonze. He is full of sympathy and concern, which gives Butterfly all the more reason to think that this is a truly western marriage rather than a Japanese one which is like a contract, and needs to be renewed annually.  Gedda is also one of the best tenors in the duet at the end of Act 1.  This is not just a big showpiece; this Pinkerton reacts to the situation and seduces his Butterfly vocally.  Gedda also gives us a sense of regret - which other singers can miss - in the final aria ‘Addio, fiorito asil’ and integrates this into the drama. It’s a truly remarkable performance. 

Sharpless can be a bit of a cardboard character – something of a sounding-board for the other singers - but in the hands of Mario Borriello he is a sensitive man with real feelings. In Borriello’s case you detect his disgust at how Pinkerton treats his Japanese bride.  He sounds truly taken aback when Butterfly produces the child and becomes angry at Pinkerton’s abandonment of this family. This aspect can also be heard when, near the end, he keeps saying to Pinkerton ‘I told you so’.  Borriello makes much of this character and he comes across as three-dimensional and no mere cipher. 

The true star of this recording is Maria Callas.  She uses her voice in a way that I have seldom heard from other singers in this role.  In Act 1 she gives us a very sweet, innocent-sounding Butterfly.  After the entrance - in which she soars up to the high D flat - she depicts all the innocence of this child-bride; as she tells Sharpless, she is only 15 years old. Later in the Act she and Pinkerton sing together tenderly. The duet starts quietly, lovingly, and rises to a musical as well as emotional climax of an intensity that I have seldom heard on a recording or live.

Suzuki on this recording, Lucia Danieli, matches Callas in the duets and creates a sensitive portrayal of the servant who is caring for her mistress. 

In Act 2, there are many passages where I get the impression that she is trying to convince herself as much as Suzuki that Pinkerton will return; for example the exchanges before ‘Un bel di.  When Sharpless arrives with the letter from Pinkerton she regains the girlish sound from the first Act until she realises that perhaps he is not going to come back, and that is why he has been away for three years.  However, when they see an American ship enter the harbour she and Suzuki are almost breathless in anticipation until they see the name, and it is his ship. In this recording the Flower Duet has a forced gaiety about it, almost as if they know it will end badly, but hope against all the odds that it will not.  After their all-night vigil waiting for Pinkerton to arrive there is weariness in Callas’s voice which underlines the fact she has lost hope of him returning.  Later, when she sees Kate Pinkerton in the garden she realises the truth of the situation. Callas sings here with a pathos which truly brought a lump to my throat, something I have not experienced even in the best performance in the opera house – quite a shattering experience. Her final aria, ‘Tu, Tu, Piccolo iddio’ is filled with total despair and leads to the inevitable conclusion of her taking her own life. 

This is a committed performance by Callas. Yes, one or two notes do flap about like a flag in a gale, but in a way, this is in keeping with her character’s emotional frame of mind. The sheer force of her personality carries you along. 

Karajan leads the orchestra to great heights and colours the score with a vibrancy and delicacy of a Japanese silk picture. It is full of clear detail - in spite of the mono sound - which fits with the efforts of the principal singers. I cannot remember a recording of this vintage where this orchestra has played so well. A totally integrated performance from all concerned. 

The question - is it worthy to be called a Great Recording of the Century?  From my point of view it is one of the greatest interpretations committed to disk. It moved me right through to the final chord which rips at the emotions in a way that very few performances of any opera have done for many a year.  EMI are right to keep this masterpiece in the catalogue.

Arther Smith







 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.