Madama Butterfly-Comp Opera

Well this is not just the best 'all-rounder' in its ability to please....it is demonstration class! I'm not a Pavarotti fan, though I give him his due. Domingo's my hero. Freni, with her girl-next-door-of-a-voice reputation was never a voice I'd chase down, though I regarded her as a 'safe' bet. Well here they SHINE! Freni kisses every note and sends it floating or flying with charm, vulnerability, pride, love....such emotion but all with a very genuine HUMAN feel. I have NO difficulties hearing her either. Pavarotti, as was said by another reviewer, sings here, rather than shouts (which he can do sometimes). Again, his emotions are so human...even the very, very light grate in his voice sometimes. Believe me, it was totally convincing. I pictured a man who lives for the present but for whom thoughts of the future are an emotional drain. After these few moments, he continues to display a clear and beautiful tone as the mood later changes....and I'm not one disposed to rationalising anything on Pavarotti's behalf. Full marks to him for texturing.

And the rest? Well, I'll confess my biases here: Christa Ludwig (I'm tempted not to say any more; the name speaks for itself!). I'll limit myself to one word: sumptous. From her millings around in the background in Act 1 to her endearing prayers at the beginning of Act 2 to the despair and tragedy of the trio at track 5 in Act 3, her performance seems to say "I care; with all my heart, I care deeply". Robert Kerns, with whom I'd been previously unfamiliar, is a very warm and well-sung Sharpless. Deep and sombre-toned, without being too sonorous. The effect is that it feels less theatrical and, again, more human.

Michel Senechal as Goro is a joy to listen to. His tenor is less noble that Pavarotti's Pinkerton, as it should be. In fact, there is not a badly sung role in all of this, and Wolfgang Schneider as Uncle Yakuside is a spiteful fright without sounding ugly! The chorus sounds lovely. Now and again you get hear the voice of one or two matronly (but NOT overly fruity) voices among the mezzos ( "O Kami! O Kami!" Act 1, track 12) and this just adds to the endearing quality of what is already a beautiful score. The only petty quibble I can think of would be Freni's "Tu? Tu?..Piccolo Iddio!" which was a little less ravishing than I might be acustomed to (e.g.; the breath in between "...fiso," and the very next word "fiso..." weakened the aria) but that's verging on being pedantic. After all, Butterfly was about to die. Even so, it was still well done.

As for von Karajan? Well he's always been my kind of conductor....from Tosca (Price/di Stefano) to Parsifal (Hoffmann/Van Dam/Moll etc.) to Boris Godunov (Ghiaurov etc.) I have lauded his dexterity, passion and devotion to depicting not just music, but the aura of the music. He has NEVER indulged in the music too much for my taste. Too much beauty?? Is there such a thing???? Listen to the birds at the beginning of Act 3. The warm flood of the strings of the Wiener Philharmoniker are a testament to Herbert von Karajan's mastery, whether they bear you away in amorous rapture or sweep you on tidal waves of high emotion.

This IS an essential recording. Puccini's beautiful melodies here present another tear-jerker, but with more colour and depth than La Boheme.

Freni is a natural Butterfly, but she is drowned out by Karajan's huge flood of orchestral sound and weighed down by his pompous, ponderous, Germanic tempi. This is simply not Italian style that Puccini would have recognized. For comparison, one should listen to the London/Decca recording with Tebaldi, Bergonzi, and Cossotto, with Serafin conducting. Serafin's tempi are certainly expansive, and the running time of the recording is nearly identical to Karajan's. But what a difference: Serafin uses the time to expand phrases in a fluid, loving, thoroughly Italian manner, while Karajan plays Butterfly as though it were Strauss.

Ludwig is a sympathetic Suzuki, Kerns a forgettable Sharpless. Pavarotti, though he doesn't shout as he later came to do with alarming regularity, here sounds gritty and thin-voiced. The greatest pity of all is that Freni, potentially a dream Butterfly, is defeated by an overwhelming orchestra and deadly tempi. Moreover, when she came to record the work again, with Sinopoli on DG, she still had to contend with sluggish tempi, and was, by then (1987), really too old for the role, her voice quite frayed. It also doesn't help that, for whatever reason, both Freni performances are the only ones on three full-priced CDs, while the opera fits comfortably on two with no awkward breaks between discs. All in all, very frustrating.