It is a rare treat to be able to critique an opera from a straight forwardly dramatic point of view. This year’s LAOpera’s production of Madame Butterfly nails the human side of this classic story. The casting matches outstanding voices with singers who look their part, fully act their part, and dazzle with their voices. What a pleasure to watch.
For good reasons Butterfly is a warhorse for opera houses. It reliably packs in audiences with a lyrical score that knows no lag-time and a story that twentieth, and twenty first, century audiences can relate to. There is no waiting for the proverbial fat lady to sing. When a production is as well cast as this year’s LAOpera production, one is emotionally pulled in. From my childhood I can recall knowing of children of WWII American service men, abandoned at the end of the war. More recently the Korean and Vietnam wars left a wake of abandoned women and children, the latter often of mixed race and outcasts In the land of their birth. When Butterfly is so well presented the veracity of the story in addition to Puccini’s lyrical score make it the perfect introduction to opera for a first time opera viewer. I had the pleasure of being able make such an introduction. As hoped for, my companion was captivated.
For good reason, Karah Son (Cio-Cio-San) has played Butterfly in at least 19 venues worldwide. In addition to her shimmering voice, strong but not always well served by the cavernous stage of the Chandler, and the hard planes of the set, she moves with the lightness of the adolescent she is portraying. Jonathon Tetelman (Pinkerton) is dashing; you know he’s a lady killer from the moment he steps on stage. Tetleman’s Biography is much shorter than Son’s, but he has played Pinkerton at the Met, In Palermo, Provence and Berlin for starters. He casts a tall, self-confident figure, a callous heartbreaker at first glance, believable in his moments of remorse in Act III. Michael Sumuel (Sharpless) expresses palpable pain at his role in the upcoming false nuptials of Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton, and Pinkerton’s subsequent return. As consul, he is both Pinkerton’s helper and compassionate observer. One can imagine that he is the avatar for Puccini who was always sympathetic to his tragic heroines.
The premise of this 24 year old Teatro Real production by Mario Gas is that it is being performed in the 1930’s and being filmed as a movie. Center stage the cast is in colorful, classic, Japanese attire. Overhead, above the super titles, it is shown as a black and white movie. Actors on dollies with large cameras are on corners of the set, occasionally rolling into the action. It is an elaborate device, with imperfect syncing. It adds nothing to story. The program makes much of the Hollywood Hays Code in which mixed race couples and intimate sex scenes were prohibited in American cinema. It is a shameful bit of Hollywood history, but this interpretation of Butterfly lends little to illuminate that history. The casting features many Asian singers making the reference irrelevant.
Madrid’s Teatro Real has abandoned Gas’ production. LAOpera would do well to follow suite. In Robert Wilson’s production which played in Los Angeles about twenty years ago, Butterfly’s house is a simple teahouse-like structure with classic Shoji panels befitting what a young naval officer might be able to afford. It sits atop an actual knoll with a believable view of the Nagasaki harbor. In Gas’ design the house is heavily ornate, barely Japanese in tone, and features multiple pillars which often interfere with sight lines if one has a seat to the side. It sits on a turntable enhancing nothing when it rotates. I rest my case.
Sadly this review is based on the penultimate performance. I has wowed packed audiences and deserved an even longer run. For all my criticism of the set, nothing could distract from the superb performances. It was an evening to be remembered.
Karen Weinstein
