Puccini: Madama Butterfly

The idea behind this 1986 La Scala production was to feature "authentic orientalism," to do which they used two Asian singers, a Japanese director, a Japanese designer, and a Japanese costumier. That Pinkerton and his wife should, therefore, be Americans was not taken to be a necessary consequence of such reasoning, and if Trouble wasn't really blond, neither was Lt. Pinkerton (who had enough stripes on his sleeve and battle ribbons on his chest to be at least a naval Captain). Ah, well, it's all opera, as they say, and Pinkerton is not authentically oriental. Puccini, of course, thought that "authentic orientalism" was not the issue. At stake were very human matters of understanding and misunderstanding that David Belasco's play, on which Illica and Giacosa's libretto is based, had put into the polarities of Japan and America in 1900. In the end, theater is not about ideas or even atmosphere, but about human interactions and decisions taken within a larger story. So, what do we get here? Well, Ichiro Takada's set and Keita Asari's direction are clean and unfussy, and that's all to the good, and Derek Bailey's restrained camerawork matched the quality of the production. Whether the whole show was authentically oriental or not is really immaterial. We are helped to focus on the essentials of the work, and that is the "authentic" part. Madama Butterfly is about, well, Madam Butterfly. Yasuko Hayashi's career took place both in her native Japan and in Europe and, though she sang most of the great bel canto roles, Butterfly was the cornerstone of that career. A great actress she is not (though this is a deliberately understated production), and her low, soft, singing is a bit metallic, but once the temperature heats up, she makes a thrilling sound. All the rest of the roles are one-sided figures. If one counters that Pinkerton changes his mind at the end, what kind of a change is it when he runs away again, as he had done three years earlier? He is as irresponsible at the end as at the beginning. No wonder Butterfly doesn't want to give her son away. The Korean soprano Hak-Nam Kim's Suzuki is a strong support for Hayashi. Maazel's conducting is solid, though the orchestra sounds a bit heavy. It is gratifying to be able to distinguish the words being sung.

Price: $38.98

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