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Madama Butterfly
By Michael Van Duzer
Opera Pacific used great care to ensure that their season opener of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly would be more than “just another Butterfly.” Utilizing a production conceived by Francesca Zambello for the Houston Grand Opera, unusually detailed direction, and a strong cast of singing actors, the results were a memorable evening at the opera.
The production retains its traditional period but utilizes an unorthodox setting. The beginnings of both acts take place in the office of the American Consul rather than at the home Pinkerton rents for Butterfly. This serves to underline the clash of cultures which works surprisingly well in the first act, but it is somewhat forced in the second. Still, the addition of a waiting room full of other women in Butterfly’s position adds a resonance that I can’t remember ever feeling in another production.
All of this would be academic if the production didn’t also have singers up to the task of Puccini’s stirring score. Xiu-Wei Sun is an altogether impressive Butterfly—-tender, mercurial, and passionate-- she embodies the difficult arc of Butterfly’s journey from eager child bride to forsaken wife. Vocally, after a bobble at the entrance, Sun sang a polished and finely nuanced performance. And, if she didn’t sail through the score with the ease of some of her predecessors, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more convincing portrayal. Misha Didyk was an appropriately handsome and callow Pinkerton with a razor-sharp tenor that scaled all of the score’s heights. Ashley Holland proved a sympathetic Sharpless while both Mika Shigematsu and Oscar ZC Zhang as Suzuki and Goro, respectively, were true luxury casting. In Joon Jang and Andrew Fernando sang Prince Yamadori and the Imperial Commissioner with the kind of distinction that characterized this company down to the smallest role.
Certainly much of the dramatic strength of the cast can be traced to Garnett Bruce’s scrupulous direction. Michael Yeargan’s minimally evocative settings, Anita Yavich’s sumptuous costumes, and Alan Burrett’s seamless lighting added immeasurably to the evening. John DeMain conducted with his customary aplomb.
Tuesday through Saturday November 11-15th, 2003 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. 1 800 34 OPERA.
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