When Maria Callas
recorded this Butterfly she had not sung the role in
the theatre. She never sang it at La Scala, only ever venturing
three performances at the Chicago Lyric Opera later in the year
of this recording. The informative booklet essay by Michael
Scott, one of the better informed of Callas’s biographers, recounts
how, after the last of the Chicago performances, Callas was
photographed backstage, still in costume, after having a writ
thrust into her hands. The photograph of her snarling face at
the retreating server of the writ removed Callas’s name from
the arts pages to the front pages of the papers.
Callas had sung
Lucia with Karajan at La Scala early in 1954. The performances
were rapturously received and reprised when the La Scala Company
went on tour to Berlin in September 1955. The first Berlin night
was caught live and has been issued on official EMI CDs. The
earlier performances at La Scala stirred Walter Legge to want
to record singer and conductor together. Lucia had already
been recorded with Serafin on the podium (see review)
and was thus out of the question. Legge offered Karajan Pagliacci,
which the maestro declined. This Butterfly was the outcome
of the negotiations. Later Karajan was to record the opera with
the wonder vocal duo of Mirella Freni and Pavarotti and the
Berlin Philharmonic (Decca). In that recording Karajan slows
the tempi and ladles on sugar and jam to Puccini’s already opulent
orchestration to give a performance you either love or loathe.
What is certain is that the two protagonists sing far better
than the main duo here. The recording, in stereo, is from Decca’s
very top drawer and has stood the test of time. What Karajan
does not have, either here or on that Decca recording, is Barbirolli’s
feel for Puccini that comes over so well in EMI’s 1966 Rome
recording with Bergonzi’s non-pareil Pinkerton and Scotto as
Butterfly (see review).
Particularly in act 1 of this recording, I find Karajan ill
at ease. Whether this is with Puccini or his soloists, Gedda
and Callas, I do not know. His feel for act two is more of what
Puccini is about in this work and after hearing Barbirolli and
also Serafin in his 1958 recording with Tebaldi a vocally opulent
Butterfly (Decca).
The problem I hear
with the soloists is their lack of vocal allure. That is a quality
that was often a factor in many of Callas’s recorded performances
as the 1950s progressed. Here she adopts a childlike vocal persona
and voice to represent the ingénue Butterfly who is, after all,
supposed to be only fourteen or fifteen years of age. Scotto
does the same in the Barbirolli recording. Both singers fail
to bring it off, often trying to spin legato lines on the breath
and becoming wavery in the process. Yes, there are times, as
in all Callas recordings, when an inflection or stress illuminates
the dramatic situation. In my view these times are not sufficient
to compensate for this vocal policy or the spread on the notes
above the stave. Frankly, the results are ugly. Nicolai Gedda
as Pinkerton shares this lack of vocal allure. It is a difficult
role for a singer to impart any feeling of sympathy, although
Bergonzi with both Scotto and Tebaldi manages better than most.
Gedda shows his vocal elegance at the start of Bimba dagli
occhi pienni di malia (CD 1 tr. 12) but as soon as the orchestra
comes in with greater tonal weight he cannot match it and his
tone becomes whiter. That lack of tonal colour and variety is
evident throughout his interpretation. Lack of vocal presence
or distinction is also evident in Mario Borriello’s interpretation
of Sharpless, the fall guy who has to pick up the mess of Pinkerton’s
feckless sexual adventure.
In his note to the
contemporaneously issued Pagliacci in this series (see
review),
restoration engineer Mark Obert-Thorn compliments the original
engineers of that issue. He notes that the recording is much
better than others in the La Scala series. The acoustic for
this performance is more like the standard La Scala recording
of the period. It is rather flat and dry, a characteristic of
the Callas La Scala performances previously re-issued on CD
using the master tapes. Despite that, Obert-Thorn is to be congratulated
on his achievement in realising worthwhile sonics that do not
seriously impair the listening experience. Whether a listener
will derive enjoyment from this will depend on their attitude
to Callas’s interpretation. There are those, including eminent
commentators, who will forgive her every vocal infelicity for
the small change, in my view, of the added insights associated
with her interpretation. On this occasion I would keep my money
in my pocket.
Robert J Farr
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