Puccini - Madama Butterfly / Maazel, Hayashi, Kim, Dvorsky, Teatro Alla Scala

Starring:Yasuko Hayashi, Hack-Nam Kim, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Peter Dvorsky (II), Giorgio Zancanaro, Ernesto Gavazzi, Arturo Testa, Sergio Fontana, Claudio Giombi, Silvestro Sammaritano, Saverio Porzano, Milena Pauli, Nella Verri, Luciana Rezzadore
Director: Derek Bailey
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
What distinguishes this excellent production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly from others is its intensely Japanese flavor. La Scala engaged a Japanese director, and he adopted many conventions of Japanese theater, including the dark-clad stagehands, whom the audience is supposed to not notice, a Zen-style rock garden rather than the profusion of blossoms usually seen, and the use of red fabrics (ribbon and rug) to symbolize the blood in the suicide scene.

Amazon.com

What distinguishes this excellent production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly from others is its intensely Japanese flavor. La Scala engaged a Japanese director, and he adopted many conventions of Japanese theater, including the dark-clad stagehands, whom the audience is supposed to not notice, a Zen-style rock garden rather than the profusion of blossoms usually seen, and the use of red fabrics (ribbon and rug) to symbolize the blood in the suicide scene.

Description

Madama Butterfly is one of the most-performed stage works in the world and is considered the pivotal opera of Puccini's career. This exquisite and highly acclaimed production from La Scala presents the tragic tale of a woman's relentless struggle within a traditionally conformist society and a loveless marriage. Japanese director Keita Asari cast two of the Far East's leading singers in the coveted female roles and collaborated with Japanese specialists on lighting, choreography and design. The result is a uniquely stylized and authentic production, subdued like an Oriental watercolor on a silk canvas, beautifully bringing to life Madama Butterfly's metamorphosis. Lorin Maazel conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro Alla Scala, Milan.

Customer Reviews:

Catch this Butterfly.......2006-06-24

If one can get over a need for superstars in this opera, here is the DVD to have. Directed by a Japanese director for La Scala, it is totally convincing. Butterfly and Susuki don't have to pretend that they are small Oriental women because they ARE small Oriental women. Hayashi, who sings the title role, does not have as much strength in her lower register as a western soprano but she embodies the role completely. Susuki is excellent in voice and appearance. Dvorsky's Pinkerton is one dimensional...but that's the kind of person who would marry a Butterfly and then forget about her. One cannot say enough good about Zancanaro's Sharpless. Here is a singer whose every line is beatifully shaped. His voice is effortlessly and evenly produced from top to bottom. Having no musical or techincal problems to deal with he is free to act with great sensitivity to the text. Though rarely in leading roles, his presence on a DVD is enough to make me consider owning it.

My only quibbles with this performance are 1) the distraction provided by the hooded "zombies" who enter to push the scenery around when it is required, 2) the English translation is not that faithful to the text of the libretto and 3) there are not nearly enough blossoms in the flower duet.

Aside from that...highly recommended.

Puccini goes Kabuki.......2005-03-30

It's easy to come to this opera with a lot of expectations and if you are looking for a conventional approach this somewhat low-keyed version may not appeal to you. But if you are in the mood for something different then this stylish and skillful production could be just your cup of tea. The show has been directed attentively in oriental style. The stylized movement and the dramaturgy, costumes and settings all reflect an eastern approach and give the opera a rare sense of authenticity. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom here and you might actually think you were in Japan for a few hours. All the power and glory of Puccini's masterpiece are here in abundance. There are no doubt more melodramatic versions but I found this one to be far easier to swallow dramatically than ... say, the filmed Karajan (Ponnelle)--- which struck me as false through and through. I thought Hayashi Yasuko's ability to convey a range of emotions in her aria Un Bel Di was very impressive. The sense of hope, despair, doubt she was able to convey at the same time was just heart-breaking. The ending, too, is quite effective as the stage turns bright red in a sea of blood. A very oriental effect-- and a mighty powerful way to end this striking production.

Blame Puccini.......2005-02-03

Yes, Cio-cio San is supposed to be a delicate Japanese teenage girl, but the music Puccini wrote for her to sing would be impossible for any teenage soprano to sing. This is heavy, loud singing that Puccini demands from the soprano. Only sopranos with mature, big voices can, and should, sing this role. So, stop carping about fat sopranos singing Cio-cio San. Most sopranos with mature, big voices have big bodies. Get over it!

I was disappointed.......2004-12-04

I thought this performance was cold. I thought Butterfly's voice was weak in her entrance and in Un bel di, though strong during the love duet and adequate the rest of the time. I was stunned to find out at last (I never read librettos) what Butterfly and Pinkerton are saying to each other during the duet. She is rhapsodizing about flowers and oceans and stars, and he's pleading vehemently with her to shut up and come to bed! It's their wedding night. From the professional Amazon reviewer I learned that the staging was Japanese. I thought it was beautiful, perfectly and artfully done, but I also thought it was inappropriate for the deeply emotional music and story, it is after all an Italian opera. The artifice that impressed me the most was the symbolism of the suicide scene. That was fantastic. No blood or guts, of course. I thought overall it was a mediocre show, maybe subdued or low-key are the words I should use, maybe this is typically Japanese. I thought everyone did a good job, expecially Sharpless, who was very kind and warm and with that warm baritone. As for the plot, I want to mention that Butterfly got a little of her own back (though it cost her her life) by telling Pinkerton he'd have to come back in half an hour if he wanted his son. Just time enough for him to find her dead. The subtitles were in white letters frequently on white backgrounds, which made them hard to read. Also, as for the subtitles, why did they have "'neath" instead of "beneath"? Was it supposed to have been a literal translation or something? The music was lush and rich. The staging was cold (albeit clever) and spare. Sigh. It did not to me make a good combination. I wish I'd bought a conventional performance. I have Tebaldi and Callas on CD. Neither of them is 15 years old, but both have stronger voices. I would see this performance for INTEREST, not to be wrapped in Puccini's music or to get involved in the story, opera. Butterfly, I should add, which may qualify all I've said, is not my favorite opera anyway, by Puccini or anyone else.

Buena la interpretacion, pero regular el canto.......2004-03-19

Esta es una 'Madama Butterfly' buena en el terreno escenico, para empezar por la interesante creacion actoral que del papel titular hace YOSUKO HAYASHI, convincente en escena. Pero vocalmente el papel la supera con creces, y por muy aplaudida que sea es una 'CioCioSan' muy corriente en lo vocal. La línea de canto inestable por momentos del tenor PETER DVORSKY lo convierten en un muy discreto 'B.F. Pinkerton', que ademas actua de forma bastante pobre. Como 'Sharpless', GIORGIO ZANCANARO se convierte en lo mas interesante de la velada, rindiendo a gran nivel, tanto vocalmente como escenicamente. H. N. KIM dota a 'Suzuki' de una acertada personalidad escenica, pero solo esta suficiente vocalmente. El largo etcétera de comprimarios (donde encontramos por ejemplo a una jovencisima ANNA CATERINA ANTONACCI en el brevisimo papel de 'Kate Pinkerton') es muy discreto, a excepcion del correcto 'Goro' de ERNESTO GAVAZZI. Los conjuntos estables de la Scala, cumplen de manera satisfactoria a las ordenes de LORIN MAZZEL.
La produccion de KEITA ASARI esta muy basada en el teatro japones, y aunque aporta muchos momentos de gran belleza plastica e inteligencia escenica puede ser acusada por momentos de algo monotona, lo que le resta algun interes. Pero de todas formas es una produccion muy interesante.
En resumen, a nivel actoral se ha conseguido un trabajo muy digno, y a nivel vocal suficiente ¿Basta con que una 'Madama Butterfly sea solo suficiente para que satisfaga totalmente? En mi opinion no. Busquen la version de Raina Kabaivanska en Verona y disfruten de una 'Madama Butterfly' emocionante hasta el maximo grado imaginable.

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