Puccini: Madama Butterfly

This recording is often, somewhat unfairly, ignored.

For Renata Scotto many opera critics prefer her recording with John Barbirolli alongside Carlo Bergonzi (Tenor, Pinkerton) and the terrific Rolando Panerai (Sharpless) from the mid 1960s. This is because her voice was lighter and brighter in the 1960s and subsequently she sounds younger - more like the age of the young geisha she is portraying. However thanks to the rather fierce ...
...could strip paint. By 1977 when this recording was made she had learnt how to maximise the creamy warmth of her voice and was pretty much at her peak. Listen to "Un bel di" and you can hear her at her peak. Personally I find some of her studio albums at this time to be the best of her work on record. Her acting is also superior with a near-ideal portrayal I think in the later stages of the opera. Listen to "Con onor muore" for ... more

This recording is often, somewhat unfairly, ignored.

For Renata Scotto many opera critics prefer her recording with John Barbirolli alongside Carlo Bergonzi (Tenor, Pinkerton) and the terrific Rolando Panerai (Sharpless) from the mid 1960s. This is because her voice was lighter and brighter in the 1960s and subsequently she sounds younger - more like the age of the young geisha she is portraying. However thanks to the rather fierce sounding treble in that recording some of her high notes could strip paint. By 1977 when this recording was made she had learnt how to maximise the creamy warmth of her voice and was pretty much at her peak. Listen to "Un bel di" and you can hear her at her peak. Personally I find some of her studio albums at this time to be the best of her work on record. Her acting is also superior with a near-ideal portrayal I think in the later stages of the opera. Listen to "Con onor muore" for example. Some may feel that the performance is a little 'mannered' trying a little too hard to sound young but this is an inherint contradiction evident in the opera - the vocal writing is hugely demanding and a voice ideally suited to the early parts of the opera - e.g. Anna Moffo or Victoria de Los Angeles can find the end of the opera a struggle. At the other end of the scale we have Renata Tebaldi who sounds mightily impressive at the end with a tidal wave of beautiful and powerful sound. Is this worth the price of sounding a little matronly? You decide.

Placido Domingo is not at his best here, which may be explained by the fact that he had replaced another tenor at short notice. He does not bring much light and shade to the role. "Addio fioritio asil" is a rather straight-up-and-down performance. Admittedly Pinkerton can be a sort of stock character but his performance on the Karajan film with Mirella Freni is superior. Despite his current position as 'primo tenore' in the world, venerated above the rest of the old timers like Giacomo Aragall, Jose Carreras or the memory of Luciano Pavarotti, plenty of Domingo's Puccini work in the 1970s on record although well sung in the conventional sense - warm mid voice, 'tasteful' phrasing, high notes present etc - it lacked shading and identity. Listen to the difference between his performance of Des Grieux in Manon Lescuat with Caballe (1970s EMI) and Freni (1980s DG) to hear what I mean. The regal phrasing and careful control of shading only came later. Pinkerton appears to be a rather thankless role however, with Pavarotti sounding rather less than his best in my opinion in the Karajan set - compare it with the glories of his La Boheme and La Favorita and his voice sounds rather tight. Jose Carreras' performance was unfortunate in 1987 with Sinopoli conducting (with Mirella Freni, 1987, DG) where he sounds surprisingly fresh considering his illness but nevertheless rather rough and ready. My favourite Pinkertons are Giuseppe di Stefano (with Victoria de Los Angeles), Jussi Bjorling (also with De Los Angeles) and Carlo Bergonzi - particularly in 1959 with Renata Tebaldi which is a very good set.

Ingvar Wixell was near his peak at this time having appeared in (or about to appear in) Bonynge's Il Trovatore (Decca with Pavarotti), Colin Davis' La Boheme and Un Ballo in Maschera (Philips) and Maazel's Il Tabarro with Scotto. Wixell suffered to some extent from not having an out-right skill beyond the level of his contemporaries. He lacked, for example, Piero Cappuccilli's phrasing or Renato Bruson's smooth tone (very like Giuseppe Taddei) or the excitement of Sherrill Milnes.
He was a consumate professional with a good dramatic insight. There is no obvious bad-taste and he does strike up a rapport with Placido Domingo.
Nothing altogether stands out I'm afraid. Rolando Panerai is far more memorable with Barbirolli - for example in the duet in Act One sparks fly with Bergonzi and a real sense of a witty conversation.
In the passage on CD1 covering tracks 1-4:
1. Act 1: "E soffitto... e pareti"
2. Act 1: "Sorride Vostro Onore?"
3. Act 1: "Dovunque al mondo"
4. Act 1: "America for ever!"
Domingo and Wixell simply do not come across as very witty or characterful. Compare this with DI Stefano and Gobbi where they are like real friends- Tito Gobbi, altough his rather dark voice was a little thin and menacing for such a nice character, is excellent for making little passages come alive which look very flat on the page. Wixell is rather boring in comparison and yet his voice, being a little grittty, does not altogether compensate.

Maazel is generally not obtrusive but at the same time does not have the powerful identity of say Karajan and Sinopoli which depending on your tastes may be an advantage.

Overall, to conclude, this recording is consitently cast and well conducted.Scotto is well worth the price of the set and the others do not let the side down, they just do not make the set much greater than the some of their parts.

Disc: 1
1. Act 1: "E soffitto... e pareti"
2. Act 1: "Sorride Vostro Onore?"
3. Act 1: "Dovunque al mondo"
4. Act 1: "America for ever!"
5. Act 1: "Ier l'altro, il Consolato"
6. Act 1: "Ecco! Son giunte al sommo del pendio"
7. Act 1: "Gran ventura"
8. Act 1: "L'Imperial Commissario"
9. Act 1: "Vieni, amor mio!"
10. Act 1: "Ieri son salita"
11. Act 1: "Tutti zitti!"
12. Act 1: "O Kami! O Kami!"
13. Act 1: "Cio-Cio-San!... Cio-Cio-San!"
14. Act 1: "Bimba, bimba, non piangere"
15. Act 1: "Viene la sera"
16. Act 1: "Vogliatemi bene"
17. Act 2, scene 1: "E Izaghi ed Izanami"
18. Act 2, scene 1: "Un bel dì, vedremo"
19. Act 2, scene 1: "C'è. Entrate"

Disc: 2
1. Act 2, scene 1: "Non lo sapete insomma"
2. Act 2, scene 1: "Si sa che aprir la porta"
3. Act 2, scene 1: "Udiste?"
4. Act 2, scene 1: "Ora a noi"
5. Act 2, scene 1: "Ebbene, che fareste"
6. Act 2, scene 1: "E questo? e questo"
7. Act 2, scene 1: "Che tua madre dovrà"
8. Act 2, scene 1: "Vespa! Rospo maledetto!"
9. Act 2, scene 1: "Una nave da guerra"
10. Act 2, scene 1: "Or vienmi ad adornar"
11. Act 2, scene 1: (È notte; i raggi lunari illumiano dall'esterno la shosi)
12. Act 2, scene 2
13. Act 2, scene 2: (fischi d'uccelli del giardino)
14. Act 2, scene 2: "Già il sole!"
15. Act 2, scene 2: "Chi sia?"
16. Act 2, scene 2: "Io so che alle sue pene"
17. Act 2, scene 2: "Non ve l'avevo detto?"
18. Act 2, scene 2: "Addio, fiorito asil"
19. Act 2, scene 2: "Tu, Suzuki, che sei tanto buona"
20. Act 2, scene 2: "Come una mosca prigioniera"
21. Act 2, scene 2: "Con onor muore"
 

...less