Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924)
Madama Butterfly (1904/1907)
Mirella Freni (soprano) – Madama Butterfly
José Carreras (tenor) – Pinkerton
Teresa Berganza (mezzo-soprano) – Suzuki
Juan Pons (baritone) – Sharpless
Anthony Laciura (tenor) – Goro
Kurt Rydl (bass-baritone) – Lo zio Bonzo
Mark Curtis (tenor) – Il principe Yamadori
Marianne Rĝrholm (soprano) – Kate Pinkerton
Hidenori Komatsu (bass) – Il commissario imperial
Philharmonia Orchestra/Giuseppe Sinopoli
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
rec. 1987, Watford Town Hall, United Kingdom
Italian libretto and English translation
Reviewed as download
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4235672 [2 CDs: 153]
The opening of Jean-Pierre Ponelle's 1974 film of Madama Butterfly is memorable for showing a freeze frame shot of Pinkerton (played by Plácido Domingo) fleeing the dying Butterfly, crashing through the paper walls of her house. The implication is clear - Butterfly is doomed from the beginning. It's an interesting concept, but always one that I thought was at odds with the hustle and bustle of Karajan's (or anyone's for that matter) conducting at this point. Anyone's that is, except Giuseppe Sinopoli's.
For you need to be warned that this is not just a slow Butterfly - at some two and a half hours, it is also probably the slowest ever performance of this piece. That it works (just!) is testimony to the concentration inspired by the conductor and (with one exception) the excellence of the singing. For Sinopoli, Butterfly is doomed from the very first note; his conducting is slow and hypnotic, Celibidachian even - there is none of the warmth of Barbirolli, none of the intoxicating beauty of Karajan on Decca - rather, there is a greyness to his orchestral palette, a savagery even, of an ancient culture that was feudal Japan. So when the Star-Spangled Banner motif appears in Act I, it is slower than usual, sarcastic even - well, this was the land where supposedly more civilised and cultured men came from to "marry" Japanese girls. And so it continues - 'Un bel dì' is very obviously tragic; when Butterfly shows Sharpless her child in Act II, the music is ominously slow - this is the child that would indirectly be responsible for her ending her life after all; Butterfly's sighting (and realisation of who it is) of Kate in Act III is taken the same way. There is little of Sinopoli's usual slowing and underlining in this recording, a fault that I felt blighted his recording of Tosca, for all the moments of revelation there. Here the pulse is steady, the intensity unremitting, but it is all very, very tragic, with little of the sparkle and sweetness that other conductors find.
Sinopoli's vision is aided and abetted by some fine singing. Teresa Berganza and Juan Pons make a superb Suzuki and Sharpless. Mirella Freni was always a minor miracle as Butterfly. When considering studio recordings only, her portrayal combines the intelligent word pointing and characterisation of Maria Callas and Renata Scotto, but with a far purer and more beautiful tone than either. Add that quality to matching (and probably surpassing) sounding just as believable as the young innocent girl of the first act as either the sweet-toned Victoria de los Angeles and Anna Moffo, something that Callas and Scotto could never hope to achieve with their voices, nor could Renata Tebaldi either with some rather toe-curling attempts at character acting on her recording for Serafin, which the similarly large-voiced Leontyne Price wisely didn’t even dare to attempt on her own, and you are starting to consider something special. Tebaldi and Price, of course, come into their own as the opera proceeds when, as the ensuing tragedy engulfs Butterfly, they are able to ride whatever orchestral tsunamis Puccini hurls at her with an unforced richness of tone and nobility; it almost beggars belief that Freni is their equal to this too. You could easily make the case that her Butterfly is the most complete realisation of this character on record, although one needs to acknowledge that Freni also never took the role onstage, unlike some of the aforementioned ladies. Astonishingly, she is 51 on this recording and needs fear comparisons only with her earlier, fresher self for Karajan.
Pinkerton is José Carreras - this recording was made shortly before the onset of leukaemia and his vocal estate, perhaps as a consequence, is not at its finest; too often, he is struggling in a role that really should be tailor-made for him, but instead sounds several sizes too big. This is the one big disappointment, for me especially so - Carreras at his best was always able to bring a more nuanced, perhaps more vulnerable, dimension to the characters he portrayed in a world too often populated by testosterone-fuelled-alpha-male tenors (think of his remarkably rounded portrayal of Stiffelio, the eponymous priest of Verdi's opera). Here he is struggling merely to stay afloat in a role that cries out for his intelligence and inherent humanity; one is left wondering what he could have made of it in his prime.
The playing of the Philharmonia Orchestra under Sinopoli is exceptional, plus DG's sound is full and rich, whether on CD or download, via mp3 or 16-bit FLAC.
So, overall, this is a distinctive rendition of the work, the slowest and most obviously tragic of all. Ultimately, though, I found it a little one-dimensional - surely this is an opera where the clouds slowly darken and then extinguish Butterfly's life, rather than being heavy and brooding from the outset? Plus, a Butterfly with a weak Pinkerton is always a big disappointment too.
A few years back with a group of friends, far more knowledgeable about opera than myself, we did a blind poll on what we considered to be the "most perfect opera recordings" ever made – the “Untouchables” perhaps of one Ralph Moore’s most excellent surveys - recordings which, in the individual's opinion, could simply not be bettered. Madama Butterfly culled the most votes, albeit evenly distributed between the two de los Angeles, the two Karajans and Barbirolli's in Rome - go figure! Sinopoli, unsurprisingly, didn't get a mention, but this set is one I will one day return to for its unique qualities, even if perhaps it is a long way off being my own personal favourite version. In short, every lover of this opera should hear it at least once - even if they may never want to hear it again.
Lee Denham
