Puccini: Madame Butterfly

Advantages: Moving, emotional and dramatic
Disadvantages: Unless a big fan of opera's or Puccini it does not really warrant sole purchase

...---OVERVIEW--- Having listened to classical music for a long time I had never been attracted to the Puccini CD's which I constantly knew were there in the stores. It wasn't until I saw the film Heavenly Creatures (a definite watch) that I discovered the true impact of Puccini's works. Using the Humming chorus from Madame Butterfly to powerful effect I was driven to buy a CD of his best works. --Puccini-- FULL NAME - Giacomo Puccini NATIONALITY - Italian BORN - 1858 DIED - 1924 MAJOR WORKS - Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Turandot. ---PRICE--- At £5 a go, buying and getting hold of Puccini's music is no problem at all and is available in most high street music chains (HMV, Virgin etc) Again like many of my other classical CD's I recommend the NAXOS label for quality and price. ---MADAME... Read review

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Advantages: Scotto very good, overall strong cast, conducting not too fierce, well recorded
Disadvantages: not as 'special' as some other sets, cast not very memorable even if able

...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... Read review

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Advantages: Realistically dealt with subject matter.
Disadvantages: May not suit everyone.

...Can you imagine the horror of a parent who sees her child fall into a barbecue pit and be burned beyond all recognition, losing their hair and face, and being able to do nothing ? This is the situation that has to be dealt with by Katherine's parents in this heart-rending tale of how a girl grows up disfigured. I thought that the book was well written. It is based in Australia and written by an Australian author that I have never heard of before. Reading more about the lady on her website, I found that she is a specialist in child growth and development. This didn't surprise me, since the detail within this fictional tale is well researched, and the idea of this and other books produced by the same author are to examine different aspects of life in a fresh and open way. Butterflies is a super book, and the way in which the tale is... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful