BBC 3, 7 March 2009

Andrew McGregor

New CDs: Madama Butterfly

Listen to it (without audio excerpts)

Transcription (by Alina) The cast is lead by Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann as Pinkerton with Antonio Pappano conducting. Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann take the roles for the first time and Angela Gheorghiu is faced with the same dilemma as Netrebko in Bellini... she has to be a 15 years old. But will we believe her? music 15 year old...the age for games, says Sharpless and wedding-cake, says Pinkerton. Angela Gheorghiu can't really give us the innocent teenager, besotted by her husband to be, at least we only get occasional flashes of youth. Which means that this is Butterfly really comes into her own in the 2nd act, when Puccini leaves the gentle comedy and most of the nationalistic stereotype behind as he unfolds Butterfly's human tragedy. But, as Pinkerton, Jonas Kaufmann is gloriously cast, a lustful naval hero, and the duet, as the newly-weds prepare for their first night together, is captivating. music The end of the 1st act of Madama Butterfly with Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann, looking forward to a night of wedded bliss, aided and delected by Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Kaufmann, especially, in glorious form as Pinkerton. But for Gheorghiu's best we have to peer in the mercur depths of the 2nd act. She comes into her own as she describes Pinkerton's departure 3 years earlier to her faithfully maid/servant Suzuki. Why did he fist locks to their house if he wasn't coming back? Maybe she is a touch to knowing in "one fine day" but the moment Pinkerton's ship returns to the bay is superbly handled by Pappano, by Gheorghius and by the recording's Suzuki, Enkelejda Shkosa, who makes an excellent friend to Butterfly as they run around preparing for Pinkerton's return, emptying the garden of flowers and strewing them around the room. Suzuki is first to see his ship. music Butterfly and Suzuki collecting all the flowers from the garden to decorate and perfume the house, ready for Pinkerton's imminent return. Enkelejda Shkosa's creation is an impressive Suzuki, all the way to the agonising confrontation with Pinkerton and his new American wife . Pappano handles Butterfly all night vigil and humming chorus with real sensitivity and his pacing is superb while Gheorghiu really delivers Butterfly's souls as she realises that Pinkerton has an American wife now and she is about to loose her child too. She has nothing left to live for, And there she is preparing for her suicide, using the ceremonial dagger, with which her father killed himself. Here Butterfly reads the inscription on her father's knife: he dies with honour who cannot live with honour. music The savegery of that final cord underpinning the lacerating ending of Puccini's Madame Butterfly. You just heard Angela Gheorghiu's last recording, with Antonio Pappano underlining every last emotional wrench, with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Academia National di Santa Cecilia. It is the first time Gheorghiu has tackled the complete role, and her fans and many others will love it. If you think Butterfly should be every inch the Diva, you'll be one of them. If you want nore delicacy and innocence, especially in the first act, you might need an alternative. Jonas Kaufmann's Pinkerton though is a great performance as is Enkelejda Shkosa's Suzuki. And Fabio Capitanucci's Sharpless completes a dramatically satisfying quartet. The ensembles are uniformly excellent. And so is this living, breathing EMI recording. The first studio opera in almost 5 years. The last? Who knows... Perhaps. I am glad it has happened. Full notes, text and translations impeccably presented, 2 CDs from EMI Classics.