★★★★☆
Ermonela Jaho’s fate on the Royal Opera stage hasn’t improved since the Albanian soprano was last seen necking poisonous drugs in Suor Angelica and pining for the son she wasn’t allowed to keep. Now, in the fifth revival of Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s 2003 production of Madama Butterfly, her son is snatched away from her again and her fate, again, is suicide. Such is life (and death) for the Puccini soprano.
As her Angelica demonstrated, however, there’s a spark to Jaho’s performances that makes her on-stage tragedies particularly affecting. It’s a quality welcome in this Madama Butterfly, which although it has been revived by Leiser and Caurier themselves still teeters on the edge of mannerism. The designs by Christian Fenouillat are