In the world of Madama Butterfly, it’s all about her, with the occasional supporting character coming in now and again to move the plot along.
But Palm Beach Opera’s current presentation of Giacomo Puccini’s Japanese opera is noteworthy for the strength of its supporting cast overall, and with a fine performance at its center plus a tasteful, intelligent staging, this Butterfly provides a most enjoyable night at the theater, and a memorable way for the company to open its 50th season.
On Friday night at the Kravis Center, the Italian soprano Maria Luigia Borsi showed why she’s been acclaimed for her work as Cio-Cio San in other opera houses. She has a powerful, if not huge, voice, with an admirable technique that allowed her to have plenty of firepower when it came to the final pages. She sang well throughout this hugely demanding part, and aside from a slightly wobbly high D-flat at her first entrance, her work was accurate, smooth and compelling.
Her Un bel dì in Act II was lovely, with a careful, focused performance of the first bars that matched the orchestra almost as though she were in the pit with the musicians, and she unfolded her character’s dream-world conviction slowly, precisely and inexorably, ending with a firm grasp of the two final high B-flats. In the Act I love duet, she sang with warmth and tenderness, and when at times she sang about her happiness, she gave the world felice an endearing sweetness.
She proved to be a fine actress as well, working within the confines of director Ron Daniels’ very clear idea of what kind of story this is. Borsi is distinctly not a modern Butterfly who boldly makes her own choices, and her actions always were circumscribed by the tradition out of which a young girl in a rigid imperial society would act. By that I mean that her movements were boxed-in, but deliberately so, and her reading of the character had a sense of inevitable doom about it that added to its exoticism and made the East-West contrast, and the subsequent misunderstanding, more palpable.
As Pinkerton, the tenor James Valenti was often good, with a clarion voice in his first entrances and in the Dovunque al mondo, as well as the Addio, fiorito asil in the final act. But his singing was spotty otherwise, retreating from its upper notes in the middle of Act I and rather underpowered in the Stolta paura, when it should be all hormonal systems go. He’s a handsome man, and his cowardice in the last act was persuasive, but he would have been more impressive had the voice remained solid (the audience, it should be said, gave him affectionate boos along with the applause, proof that his caddishness had hit the mark).
Two of the supporting voices were exceptionally fine, beginning with baritone Michael Chioldi as Sharpless. Here was a consul who made an impact in every one of the acts, and this is the first time I can remember thinking I wish Puccini had written some more for Sharpless to do. Chioldi has a big, rich voice that stood equal in his exchanges with Borsi and Valenti, and if his acting was a little stiff, his singing gave the character real presence, and that did a lot to help fill out the drama.
Mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts was just as good as Suzuki, blending beautifully with Borsi during the petals scene of Act II, and singing with force and command in all of her appearances. A Japanese-American, Roberts has a large, dark instrument that gave Suzuki poignancy and heft, and her movements across the stage perfectly underlined the nature of her character’s relationship to Cio-Cio San: a servant, but not servile, and in the end, a loving friend. Friday night’s audience gave Chioldi and Roberts warm and well-deserved applause.
The Korean tenor Julius Ahn gave this Butterfly a well-acted, well-sung Goro; here again was a big, impressive voice in a smaller role that widened our appreciation of the whole story. Kenneth Stavert, a returning Young Artist, showed a darker side to his sturdy voice as Yamadori, and the Romanian baritone Valentin Vasiliu was a decent Bonze. Also, the Canadian-Iranian mezzo Shirin Eskandani demonstrated an attractive vocal quality during her few lines as Kate Pinkerton.
This was a very pretty production, with beautiful sets and costumes from the San Francisco Opera. Everything was set amid large sliding screens that were pulled in and out by kurogo, the traditional masked Japanese stagehands, a wonderful touch. The Abraham Lincoln returned to port as a huge backdrop in Act II, and Steven Strawbridge’s canny lighting saw it change color and shape during the Humming Chorus and the transition to Act III.
And something should be said about the excellence of that transition. Too few stage directors in my experience trust Puccini’s original instinct (drawing from David Belasco) to not break the action between what are now Acts II and III, and which originally was just a large Act II. But if you keep it unbroken, like Daniels does here, it works perfectly. Borsi stood absolutely still, staring through a hole in the screen, for the 15 or so minutes from the beginning of the Humming Chorus (here performed pianissimo throughout) to the point at which the action of the act proper begins.
The result was a seamless, moving, almost claustrophobic sense of expectation that was only gently interrupted, an ideal way to suggest an overlong wait that ends in sleep and disappointment. And by keeping the movements of his actors highly controlled and never manic, he suggests at once ancient Japanese drama and a fairy tale, and that makes for a most evocative combination. The only thing that didn’t quite work was Butterfly’s suicide; a slashing of the throat seems anticlimactic, especially after we have seen Goro mime the seppuku that took her father’s life.
The Palm Beach Opera Orchestra under Bruno Aprea was first-rate, with a muscular, vivid approach to this brilliant score that also gave the opera a booster shot of dramatic juice. Aprea, among the most energetic of conductors, perhaps pushed the love duet a little too quickly, and the very ending of the piece could have been stretched just a tad to make it sink in. This is also a demanding score, in particular for the horns, who played beautifully.
The women of the chorus did fine work, and looked wonderful, during the Act I wedding scene, and Daniels’ tableau right before the arrival of the Bonze looked straight out of an Impressionist painting of a garden party.
This is a Madama Butterfly that is culturally aware as well as theatrically savvy, and while Borsi makes an excellent CIo-Cio San, this is a production that is less dependent on the title character as its prime mover, and in that, we have a deeper theatrical experience.
Madama Butterfly will be performed tonight at 7:30 with the Canadian soprano Michele Capalbo as Cio-Cio San and the Puerto Rican tenor Rafael Davila as Pinkerton. Borsi and Valenti return Sunday afternoon at 2 for the third and final performance. All shows are at the Kravis Center. Call 833-7888 or the Kravis at 832-7469 for tickets, or visit www.pbopera.org or www.kravis.org.