Puccini Madama Butterfly
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giacomo Puccini
Genre:
Opera
Label: Opera Double Decca
Magazine Review Date: 9/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 144
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 452 594-2DF2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Madama Butterfly |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Angelo Mercuriali, Goro, Tenor Carlo Bergonzi, Pinkerton, Tenor Enzo Sordello, Sharpless, Baritone Fiorenza Cossotto, Suzuki, Mezzo soprano Giacomo Puccini, Composer Lidia Nerozzi, Kate Pinkerton, Mezzo soprano Michele Cazzato, Prince Yamadori, Baritone Oscar Nanni, Yakuside, Bass Paolo Washington, The Bonze, Bass Renata Tebaldi, Madama Butterfly, Soprano Santa Cecilia Academy Chorus, Rome Santa Cecilia Academy Orchestra, Rome Tullio Serafin, Conductor Virgilio Carbonari, Imperial Commissioner, Baritone |
Author: Michael Oliver
Butterfly was not an obvious role for Tebaldi: girlish charm and vulnerable innocence were not her strong suits; she sometimes replaces them with a slightly irritating shrill laugh and by ‘expressively’ distorting the melodic line. Yet she no less often conscientiously fines down her magnificent voice to a genuine intimacy of expression (the letter-reading scene with Sharpless is touching) and there are few accounts of the role that are more securely, more gloriously sung, and with a voice that seems without a flaw throughout its register. So many more convincingly childlike Butterflys simply have no lower notes to speak of, or are incapable of the cruelly demanding outburst of “Tu, tu, piccolo Iddio”, that it is splendid to hear in the role a voice that you know will not be found wanting at any point. And few Butterflys have been more ardently and sympathetically partnered than by Bergonzi, here in his finest voice: the love duet is superbly done.
Cossotto is a fine Suzuki, but Sordello’s Sharpless is disappointing, the voice rather shallow, the acting minimal. Serafin’s obvious affection for the score leads him into leisured tempos at times, and to a lack of impact: the loud chord that follows Sharpless’s question about what Butterfly would do if Pinkerton never came back should be as brutal as a blow in the face; here it hardly registers. But the early stereo recording is excellent and all the minor parts are well taken. At bargain price this would still be a contender among the top half-dozen or so recordings of the opera if Decca had not spoiled the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar by not providing a libretto. This is despicable parsimony, and unless collectors refuse to buy libretto-less recordings the habit will spread.'
Cossotto is a fine Suzuki, but Sordello’s Sharpless is disappointing, the voice rather shallow, the acting minimal. Serafin’s obvious affection for the score leads him into leisured tempos at times, and to a lack of impact: the loud chord that follows Sharpless’s question about what Butterfly would do if Pinkerton never came back should be as brutal as a blow in the face; here it hardly registers. But the early stereo recording is excellent and all the minor parts are well taken. At bargain price this would still be a contender among the top half-dozen or so recordings of the opera if Decca had not spoiled the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar by not providing a libretto. This is despicable parsimony, and unless collectors refuse to buy libretto-less recordings the habit will spread.'
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