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Giacomo PUCCINI(1858-1924) Madama Butterfly - opera in two acts (1904)
Madama Butterfly - Angela Gheorghiu (soprano); Pinkerton - Jonas Kaufmann
(tenor); Suzuki - Enkeledja Shkosa (mezzo); Sharpless - Fabio Capitanucci
(baritone); Goro - Gregory Bonfatti (tenor); Il Bonze - Raymond Aceto
(bass); Kate Pinkerton - Cristina Reale (soprano)
Chorus and Orchestra
of the Accademia Nationale di Santa Cecilia, Rome/Antonio Pappano
rec. Sala Santa Cecilia, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, August
2008. DDD EMI CLASSICS 2 64187
2 8 [62.04 + 73.08]
Never say never ever! It was not that long ago that EMI
announced the supposed last ever studio recording of an opera.
They reckoned the economics just didn't make sense and with
accountants as much in charge of recording policy as Artist
and Repertoire departments, it appeared a sane judgement. With
opera recordings involving orchestras, expensive conductors
and singers, not to mention venues, the sessions often spreading
into several weeks it was to be expected. Over twenty-five years
ago Decca announced the first million pound opera recording.
On that basis, even in the halcyon days of the CD boom, getting
the money back was not merely long term but problematic; the
word “ever” was even more appropriate. One swallow
does not make a spring and it would be wrong to assume this
present studio recording presages a change of policy to the
old ways. The days of the 1950s through to the 1980s are probably
gone for ever - certainly on that scale. That was when the recording
majors accommodated their contracted artists' desires to
set down their interpretations of roles for posterity, all in
as near perfect studio conditions and acoustics as possible.
The take-off of DVD live recordings, particularly of opera,
with all the pluses of frisson and the distractions of stage
noise and applause, filled some gaps. Otherwise there have been
one or two opera recordings made in the studio from the likes
of Opera Rara, who benefit from the support of the Sir Peter
Moores Foundation, or more often following or contemporaneous
with live performances.
The days of the early LP, when recording companies thought nothing
of reprising an opera recording within a short period, brought
four versions of Madama Butterfly from EMI within a decade,
a mere five years between each and two with unlikely divas in
the title role. The first and third featured the light-voiced
Victoria de Los Angeles, first in mono and then stereo. Maria
Callas, who had not sung the role on stage at the time and only
ever did so on three occasions (see review),
quickly followed the mono version. The final one featured the
stronger-voiced Renata Scotto in an all-Italian cast recorded
under John Barbirolli recorded in Rome in 1964 (see review).
Barbirolli, like Pappano on this recording, was of Italian descent
and also had a distinguished career in the opera pit. Regrettably
his skill as a recording conductor of the genre was realised
too late by EMI. Pappano on the other hand was signed up even
before he became supremo at Covent Garden. The company added
Angela Gheorghiu to their contracted artist roster, signing
her from Decca to join her husband the tenor Roberto Alagna.
The trio of conductor, tenor and soprano made a number of widely
admired recordings. These included Puccini's La Rondine,
and Tosca, which became the soundtrack of the later
film, and Massenet's Werther and Manon before
EMI announced the 'last' of their studio recordings.
Pappano, like Barbirolli has a feel for Puccini's music,
balancing the tragic drama of the story with its more lyrical
lines. Meanwhile Gheorghiu has never sung the eponymous role
on stage. In that she would join not only Callas, but also a
quite distinguished list of divas that set down their interpretation
before recording the role. In Gheorghiu's recent combined
CD and DVD issue titled My Puccini (see review)
I found her Butterfly a weaker interpretation than the other
ladies represented in the collection. I wondered if this was
a consequence of lack of stage experience. That is as maybe;
what is certainly the case in this recording is that the soprano
gives a very different, all encompassing, portrayal of a role
that is not the easiest to bring off on record or on stage.
In Belasco's play, Butterfly is only fourteen or fifteen
years of age. In some opera recordings this has tempted interpreters
of the eponymous role into affecting a younger voice. But a
young-sounding voice cannot surmount Puccini's orchestration
satisfactorily nor fully express the more stressful emotions
that Butterfly experiences. The lyrical love music of act 1
is the easiest to portray and Gheorghiu sails through it with
ease. She fills the lines with fulsome, rounded tone that is
very easy on the ear. She does not make any attempt at a child-like
voice, bringing her full range of tonal colour and expression
to the scene (CD 1 trs.14-17). For me the first part of act
two sorts the lasting Butterflies from the ephemera. Butterfly
herself has to accommodate the whole gamut of emotions, first
as she tries to convince the sceptical Suzuki that Pinkerton
will return, (CD 1 trs.19-20) and then receives the American
Consul, Sharpless, and refuses to let him convey his somewhat
different message (CD 2 trs.1-7). Even as Gheorghiu sings this
scene, does her Butterfly really believe or does she have inner
doubts? This is where Gheorghiu's interpretation is at a
different level to the extract on the recital DVD. But then
Butterfly's spirits rise as she spots a ship in the harbour.
She believes again. Butterfly and Suzuki await the dawn. They
share the beauty of the flower duet as they prepare the home
for Pinkerton's anticipated arrival by spreading flower
petals, their voices intertwining in Puccini's melody and
even Suzuki believing again (CD 2 tr10). Then Pappano and the
chorus weave a gently even lingering and poignant Humming Chorus
(CD 2 tr.13).
In the opening of the last scene (CD 2 tr.14) Pappano really
allows his band to get at Puccini's near strident orchestral
introduction, wholly appropriate for the drama to come. So too
is his treatment of the orchestral role in Butterfly's first
attempt to take her own life, having read her father's inscription
on the knife:“He dies with honour who cannot
live with honour” and before Suzuki thrusts the young
child into the room (Trs.24-25). Here he balances modulation
and tempo perfectly to match Butterfly's words to herself.
It is in this conclusion that the whole sad tale unfolds: a
suave American is interested in cheap easy sex rather than facing
the truth and reality of the Consul's words. Earlier Butterfly
sleeps with fatigue but in hope and expectation as Suzuki's
fears are proved correct. She opens the door to Pinkerton and
Sharpless, sees another woman and is told that they have come
to make arrangements for the future of Butterfly's child
(CD 2 trs.18-20). Shkosa's Suzuki with her well-coloured
mezzo tones really comes into her own, already having characterised
excellently, as the two women wait in their vigil. She has to
break the news and share in the agony of explaining to Butterfly
who Kate is and why she has come (trs.23-24). But it is Gheorghiu's
singing and characterisation of Butterfly's many emotions
in this last act that are quite superb. Never once does she
let her voice loosen as she interprets Butterfly's tragic
emotions. The story reaches its climax with Butterfly's
suicide in front of her blindfolded son (trs.25-26).
As Lieutenant Pinkerton, the guy who thinks he can buy a girl
and then cast her aside, Kaufmann sings with clear, open and
heroic tone. Nobody, except perhaps Bergonzi on his two recordings,
can make Pinkerton anything but a loathsome cad. Kaufmann accepts
that reality and plays him for what Pinkerton is, a macho Yank,
and does so convincingly. As the hapless fall guy who has to
do Pinkerton's dirty work, and then pick up the pieces,
the Sharpless of Fabio Capitanucci is steady and well characterised,
if a little throaty. But as in few other operas in the repertoire,
success depends on the singing and characterisation of a single
role, that of the eponymous Madama Butterfly. It is evident
that Angela Gheorghiu has put much effort and time into preparing
the role. Her interpretation is of the highest class in terms
of vocal beauty and in characterisation. Her conception of Butterfly
is no pubescent ingénue, but a young woman who knows
a little of life's trials and temptations. No need for girlish
tones. She is lyric-voiced when appropriate but always with
body and colour in her voice. She is always capable of riding
Puccini's more dramatic moments without spread or loss of
tonal beauty. Given the considerable challenges of setting her
interpretation down without the benefit of stage experience,
it is an even more impressive achievement and can stand alongside
any other diva on record. Perhaps she and the team involved
might be tempted to use the soundtrack for a film, as with Tosca.
This would be infinitely preferable to Gheorghiu stressing her
lovely voice for dramatic effect in one of the larger theatres.
This recording should make commercial sense for EMI. If it does,
then it will not be another 'last' studio recording
of an opera.
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