Madrid, July 14, 2024.
Every summer, the Teatro Real closes its operatic season with an ABC repertoire opera. This summer, the chosen title is Puccini's Madama Butterfly, one of the most celebrated operas worldwide, which returns to the Teatro Real after seven years. Back then, it was sung by Ermonela Jaho and Hui He in the title role, and staged with the conservative staging by Mario Gas, premiered in 2002, in which sopranos such as Daniela Dessì, Isabelle Kabatu, Cristina Gallardo-Domas, among others, participated. Since its premiere at the old Teatro Real in 1907, this opera has been scheduled in several venues in Madrid throughout history.
Although today it is one of the most famous operas in the world, when it premiered at La Scala in 1904, it was a flop. Puccini made many revisions, more successful, until reaching the definitive one in 1907. Although he and his librettists Illica and Giacosa immortalized forever the tragedy of this Japanese geisha deceived by an American soldier, the story already existed previously. In 1887, Pierre Loti wrote "Madame Chrysanthème", based on his own experience: he married a Japanese woman with whom he lived briefly, after which the marriage was annulled, he returned to France and she remarried. In 1898, John Luther Long wrote "Madame Butterfly", based on an event that his sister experienced during a Christian mission in Japan, about a "tea house" woman abandoned by the father of her child. In 1900, playwright David Belasco turned it into a play, giving the plot its current form, which a moved Puccini saw it during a stay in London, after which he decided to turn it into the operatic masterpiece we know.
For this return, the Teatro Real has opted for a radical change, by choosing the Damiano Michieletto's raw, harsh, modern staging, which was premiered in Turin in 2010. Accordinf to Michieletto, this is not a love story, but the story of the exploitation of an impoverished teenage girl, by a Westerner who buys her sexual services. With the aim of focusing on the essence of this sordid story, the staging moves the action from the ancient Nagasaki in the Meiji Era, to the red light district of a modern and indeterminate Asian city. There are no fans, kimonos, tatami mats, geisha hairstyles, cherry trees or the port of Nagasaki with its green mountains in the background. Instead, the stage is occupied by blinding neon lights with female silhouettes, phrases in Asian languages taken from the libretto, and huge advertising banners showing hamburgers, closeups from very young women in suggestive looks, and manga drawings. In the center, a crystal booth that first represents a brothel and then Butterfly's house, stays. The impact of this production is, however, superficial. The concept may be interesting, an update of this story of a woman's purchase, but after a few moments of undeniable visual impact, it ends up becoming annoying, and even irrelevant, since the plot at least can be followed perfectly. However, there are moments such as the flower duo defacing the house by plastering it, or the child being almost dragged to the car, since this story wouldn't happen in today's Japan. In addition, the descriptive, exotic and colorful music of the first act does not match the slum seen on stage.
The curtain rises and we see a group of very young prostitutes (played by Asian actresses), dressed in very short clothes, walking around inside the booth, while a white car enters, from which Pinkerton and a group of friends come, ready for a night of partying. Goro, the matchmaker, in addition to being the pimp of the neighborhood, is a nasty ringleader who mistreats everyone, sowing terror among people. Cio-Cio-San makes her entrance in a modern blue dress. The wedding guests also wear colorful contemporary clothing. Afterwards, some street food carts provide them food, while the guests are sitting on ugly plastic seats taken from a dollar store, while street vendors offer their merchandise. Pinkerton is portrayed as a whoremonger (as if taken from the ending scene from the movie "Requiem for a Dream"), flirting with all the girls, before Butterfly appears. When he sings his famous aria "Dovunque al mondo", with the American anthem melody, one of the advertisements rises to display images of the Marines and other American soldiers on various missions around the world. Uncle Bonzo appears in a wheelchair to curse his niece. In the love duet, Butterfly appears most of the time singing from the roof of the booth, while Pinkerton responds to her from inside, which are not very ideal conditions for a passionate love duet.
In the second act, we see Butterfly climbed back onto the roof of her booth at the very beginning, now dressed in her now iconic pink Hello Kitty t-shirt, jeans with butterfly decorations, and white sneakers. Inside the shed there are a variety of toys lying around and disorganized. There are huge puddles around the house, indicating that Butterfly is still living in destitution. Meanwhile, under the big banner, the young prostitutes and Goro take photos; one of them is dressed in blue, heading to her wedding, to meet a buyer husband (an indication that the story always repeat itself?). Prince Yamadori comes on a modest motorcycle, and he is a well-dressed old man who comes with gifts, inside two horrible raffia bags. A moving, but at the same time eerie moment is when Consul Sharpless reads the letter to Butterfly, the lights go out, and while he is reading, Pinkerton himself appears to cuddle Butterfly, as if in a recreation of her illusions. When their son appears, he is an older boy, so it seems that more than three years have transcurred, since he comes with his school backpack. Butterfly and Suzuki do not decorate the house with flowers, instead they daub the glass walls with tempera paints, drawing shapes of flowers and hearts.
During the famous humming chorus, Butterfly and Suzuki leave the boy sleep inside the house alone, while the prostitutes appear carrying lights to put inside the room, and then turn them off. When the famous orchestral Intermezzo begins, the boy wakes up and plays with some paper boats in one of the puddles, until other children appear, to bully him by throwing his own, wrecked boats at him: the blonde boy with asian blue eyes is despised in the neighborhood. When the interlude ends, Suzuki and Butterfly prepare him for school. The white car appears again, from which Pinkerton, Sharpless and Pinkerton's wife, Kate, get out, dressed in a luxurious but tacky way, giving her the image of an unreliable woman. Pinkerton's moral misery is reflected in the fact that during this scene, he gives Sharpless some dollars to compensate the poor Butterfly, but he throws them away. Even his own wife is disgusted. During the tragic final scene, Butterfly tries to kill herself by stabbing herself, but gives up when she suddenly sees her son coming from school, to whom she says goodbye in her tragic final aria. Then, while the boy is playing on a swing, she commits suicide by shooting herself, and Pinkerton immediately appears to forcibly take the boy and put him into the car, since he does not want to follow him. The curtain falls with Butterfly dead, alone, lying on the floor.
Puccini's music describes an idyllic atmosphere, with its playful melodies, of oriental inspiration in the first act, to move on to the most absolute and moving drama in the remaining two. The Teatro Real Orchestra is again conducted by the maestro Nicola Luisotti. But despite moments of brilliance, the conducting has resulted somewhat between correct and routine. In the middle of the first act it reached a nice rendition, with the wind and percussion recreating that idyllic oriental world that does not correspond with the staging. There has been some spectacular moments, such as the orchestral tutti as in "Dite al babbo scrivendogli che il giorno del suo ritorno, gioia mi chiamerò" or in the powerful finale, although the orchestral interlude between the second and third acts was not as spectacular as it should have been. wanted. Mention for the violin in the letter scene, and for the cello in the third act. The Teatro Real Choir, in its brief interventions, at the always good level, shaking in the first act with the phrase "Ti rinneghiamo!", totally piercing, which resonated in the hall. Their performance in the famous closed-mouth chorus of the second act is moving.
Lianna Harotounian says goodbye to Madama Butterfly after singing this role for a decade. This Armenian soprano adapts perfectly to the tessitura: her voice is able to be sweet, candid, dramatic and powerful (just as she did in her Desdemona and Trovatore's Leonora in past seasons) when required. This is convenient in this opera since in the first act, Harotounian sings with a childish and tender tone, showing fragility and candor in this act. In the second act, this tone alternates with a more dramatic one, a reflection of the character's maturity. The treble remains firm and well projected, and the low voice is heartbreaking in phrases like "morta, morta" in Che tua madre dovrà. At an acting level, she conveys the emotions of the character, in a convincing portrait of this lonely and abandoned mother.
Michael Fabiano, who in three years has sung the four main Puccini tenor roles in Madrid, has been a remarkable and very enjoyable Pinkerton. Although his voice is more mature, his vigorous tone and vocal resistance and stamina continue to confirm him as one first choices for this repertoire. Throughout the first act he shows a vigorous,heroic voice with a youthful, gallant touch. The singing is powerful in "Bimba dagli occhi pieni di Malia". In the third act he maintains the level, with a beautiful version of "Addio Fiorito Asil".
Gemma Coma-Alabert was a correct Suzuki, a very good actress, in her role as matron protector of Butterfly and her son, with a notable low voice in the third act. Gerardo Bullón is a correct Sharpless, who was very good in the first act, and correct in the remaining two, although with a moment of brilliance in the letter scene. It is always to hear again the Basque tenor Mikeldi Atxalandabaso, now in the role of the unpleasant matchmaker Goro. His excellent character tenor voice is suitable for his convincing performance as a brutal and feared pimp. He is, without any doubt, one of the best spieltenors today. Fernando Radó was a correct Uncle Bonzo. The rest of the cast was at the same level.
Although many people the audience did not agree with the staging, everyone enjoyed a good opera evening, noticed in the final ovations for Fabiano and Harotounian. The hall was not fully occupied, maybe because of holidays, or even the Euro Cup final football match, which Spain won last night, winning its fourth cup. Still, Madama Butterfly has such capacity to delight and move that it is always a pleasure to watch. These performances are being dedicated to Victoria de los Ángeles, a legendary Butterfly, having different memento, gowns and kimonos displayed throughout the theatre, in contrast to the Hello Kitty t-shirt that tonight's Butterfly wore.
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