Friday, April 9, 2010

Madama Butterfly at City Opera


Last night I made my City Opera debut, attending a highly moving production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Without the larger budget of their neighbors, the Met Opera, Mark Lamos's production was understandably spare, yet no less colorful or emotionally effective. The David H. Koch Theatre is much smaller than its neighbor opera house, and has historically been troubled by uneven acoustics. The farther a singer moved upstage, the more his/her voice got lost in the rafters and the less audible they became. (Before recent renovations, supplementary microphones were often used). There were however, some added benefits in comparison to the Met. The seats were wider with much more leg room, student tickets are $12 instead of $25 and seem to be plentiful (therefore cheaper than going to the movies), and the orchestra pit projects much, much more sound.
The later was a huge benefit for Butterfly's full orchestration, receptively and passionately magnified by City Opera Music Director, George Manahan. Having never come close to being blown out of my seat by the Met Orchestra, the fortes took me by surprise as they filled the theatre with a kind of sound I only thought was possible during orchestral concerts. This grand beauty was too much for some singers- most notably Steven Harrison, who played Pinkerton. Covered up nearly every time he was accompanied by the orchestra, I was at first not sure if the orchestra was simply playing too loudly. After enough time of hearing everyone else with no problem, I was convinced Mr. Harrison's voice was just too small and airy for the grand role.
As Madama Butterfly, Shu-Ying Li sang from start to finish with a big, warm, round, and luscious voice. Being such a well-known opera, I could not avoid thinking back to recordings I prefer, but nonetheless Ms. Li without a doubt raised the bar of the cast. Nina Yoshida Nelsen sang an emotionally sharp and penetrating Suzuki.
The dramatic climax of Butterfly comes at the end, when the title character slits her own throat in front of her son and her long lost love, the just arrived Pinkerton. The music here is intensely moving, having no less of a sincere, overbearing or apocalyptic effect on an attentive audience than the best moments of Wagner. I left the theatre in a hurry and completely ravished.

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