Photograph by Matthew Staver
The most recent mounting of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on the Ellie Caulkins Opera Home in Denver is much less a revival and extra an interrogation—a manufacturing that appears keenly conscious of the burden of its personal efficiency historical past. For an viewers that may hum the scena of each legendary Cio-Cio-San from Destinn to Scotto, director Mo Zhou’s imaginative and prescient gives a refreshing, if intellectually demanding, recalibration of the work’s orientalist scaffolding.
Wait, no, that’s not right! That’s not the opera I watched! Dammit, Janet!
The most recent remounting of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on the Ellie Caulkins Opera Home is a superbly respectable, middle-of-the-road manufacturing that makes no nice calls for on the viewers. Since it’s unbelievable that even 10% of the well-dressed, well-heeled, and well-mannered Coloradoans I met throughout the opening evening would know whether or not Destinn was a legendary soprano or a neighborhood microbrewery specializing in artisanal marmalade beer, it’s most likely simply as nicely that we’re NOT requested to interrogate colonialism, orientalism, or any -isms in any respect.
Mo Zhou, making an organization debut, is understood for a “battle brides” regie model of this opera (a reimagined Madama Butterfly set in post-WWII Allied-occupied Japan, in accordance with her bio): I’m not fairly positive if that’s the manufacturing we watched. To me, the Opera Colorado model seems to be a standard manufacturing at its most inoffensive. On stage is the flimsy set of interconnected rooms (“liminal areas”, in case you should) contained in the little villa that Pinkerton has rented for 999 years, with a footbridge resulting in the huge, uncompromising ocean within the backdrop. There are a number of equipment – a dresser, cushions, tatamis, a number of footage, and flower petals for the final act. The costumes, too, wouldn’t offend even probably the most conservative opera-goer: a pink kimono for Cio-cio-san with a white gown beneath, Pinkerton in his uniform, Suzuki in gun-metal drab apron/coveralls, little Hassle in a wise black and white kimono enjoying with a toy ship and a stuffed GI plushie. Cio-cio-san’s household wouldn’t look misplaced within the city of Titipu. Pinkerton’s house-warming friends have fairly a number of ladies in Victorian garb, though they had been seemingly his brother officers’ wives, and never his sisters, cousins, and aunts. I wasn’t positive why they joined the Mikado gang in condemning Cio-cio-san for changing to Christianity – certainly, they might have rejoiced in it? The American flag is waved rather a lot, maybe as an in-joke. There was some laughter from the viewers at this, but it surely might need been a loud grimace. Who is aware of, nowadays?
Photograph by Matthew Staver
The Refrain and the conductor, Ari Pelto, acquitted themselves nicely. The tempi had been brisk, however not Toscanini-lite. The Refrain sang nicely and in tune. The blockings had been completely enough, though Butterfly’s subservient little crab-walk – traditionally right although it could have been – seemed painful and unfunny from the place I used to be sitting. I additionally couldn’t determine the hair state of affairs for Cio-cio-san: initially, she had an elaborate hairstyle, appropriate for a 999-year-contract-bride; then, in Act 2, she had a type of mullet with pigtails, and within the ultimate hara-kiri scene, her hair was lengthy and straight, with a faint contact of J-horror: a pre-death Samara in “Ringu”, if you’ll. Did she straighten her hair whereas deciding to off herself? Inquiring minds need to know. (Aspect-note right here: hair IS necessary on this opera. Simply to present one instance: in 2009, Ausrine Stundyte’s Butterfly took off her blonde wig earlier than the dying scene, reclaiming an id in dying which life and love had pressured her to surrender. However that was one other nation – actually – and in addition to.)
The smaller roles, too, had been sung nicely, or on the very least, adequately. Martin Bakari was a sly and broadly humorous Goro, Younger Bok Kim’s Bonze had a barely extra burnished bass than one expects nowadays, Mason O’Brien sang a dignified Yamadori whose overtures Butterfly ought to truthfully have inspired, and Jordan McCready was a younger and profitable Kate Pinkerton, who would seemingly have achieved justice to that character’s deleted aria.
I’m truthfully a bit spoiled in relation to Suzuki, as a result of I’ve heard that position sung so nicely by so many stars within the making, or by glorious comprimarias. Kristen Choi sings it nicely with out leaving her mark on the position. If there was a contact of the South Pacific Bloody Mary belligerence in a few of her blocking, it served the position nicely. Levi Hernandez was a extra blokey, bro-y Sharpless than standard – much less a determine of authority and extra a recent of Pinkerton, albeit one who involves remorse his position in the entire sorry affair. It’s a good voice, too.
That leaves us with Joseph Dennis’ Pinkerton and Eri Nakamura’s titular character. Dennis has some “rizz”, and is an effective Pinkerton, concurrently callow and ardent, however there isn’t any suggestion that his Pinkerton involves remorse any of his choices. This Pinkerton appeared fairly okay with dumping the whole mess in another person’s lap and beginning afresh. Dennis additionally took his mock “booing” on the curtain name fairly gamely. He has all of the “Puccini tenor” qualities which can be interesting in small doses. It could be attention-grabbing to see what he sings when he’s bored of enjoying (fuck)boi-ish lovers.
Photograph by Matthew Staver
Eri Nakamura, who’s already making a reputation for herself within the lirico-spinto rep, provides me some pause. Put very merely, her Butterfly appeared to be from a special manufacturing: she was vocally extra assertive, with a wiry, considerably tense timbre. She wasn’t a bit of lady in an abusive relationship (à la Toti dal Monte, Victoria de Los Angeles) or a tragic heroine trapped by circumstances (each Renatas). She didn’t have the plushiness or the feathery softness {that a} conventional Butterfly is usually anticipated to point out in her singing. It’s a reasonably sized instrument with a particular edge, and going via her discography, it isn’t stunning to me that she’s sung Amelia (in Ballo and Simon Boccanegra) in addition to the extra worldly-wise Puccini heroines (Magda in Rondine, Musetta in Boheme). Don’t get me improper: she has a pleasant voice and would, maybe, be a superb (if not nice) Butterfly in a manufacturing specializing in the constraints of the “little geisha” position that Butterfly internalizes simply to outlive, whilst that façade begins to crack on the finish. Sadly, that wasn’t the manufacturing she discovered herself in. Her appearing, however, was enough.
Lastly, as an Asian particular person myself – albeit not Japanese, nor a pupil of the tradition – let me level out probably the most egregious mistake that this (and lots of different) productions make within the ultimate scene: the way of Butterfly’s dying. With out going into gory particulars, women and men are anticipated to make use of the knife in another way throughout the ritual suicide, and neither can use it in the way in which this manufacturing demonstrates.
Mo Zhou has stated prior to now that Madama Butterfly isn’t a love story; it’s a survival story, and possibly that’s what Opera Colorado is attempting to do throughout these troubled instances: to outlive by placing on a respectably sung, standard manufacturing of the opera. In that, it succeeds.
Ronnie Banerjee
Ronnie Banerjee is an opera-lover and a scientist. Their very first opera was a Salome on the Leipzig Staatsoper. They’re a Canadian researcher with a PhD in nanobiomaterials from Saskatoon, the place they labored on the Canadian Gentle Supply (a synchrotron), and sometimes scared personnel there with dangerous renditions of the confrontation scene from Maria Stuarda. They’re presently primarily based in Colorado, and sit up for visiting the Met sooner or later.
