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Yunah Lee as Cio-Cio-San with members of the ensemble in The Glimmerglass Festival's 2014 production of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly."
( Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival.)
In the Glimmerglass Festival production of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly," each element contributes to a perfect, emotionally rich experience. Director Francesca Zambello creates a fresh, detailed staging that transports listeners from Cooperstown's Alice Busch Theater to the village of Nagasaki, early in the 20th Century when Japan, newly open to Westerners, was a source of novelty.
In program notes, Zambello explains she emphasizes Cio-Cio-San's status as the foreign one by situating her among curious Americans from the outset. In the busy consulate, as U.S. Navy Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton speaks of someday marrying an American woman, Cio-Cio-San, or Butterfly, arrives with her entourage to become his bride. In devotion and innocence, she will relinquish her nationality, her religion and her heart to Pinkerton.
Butterfly, Yunah Lee, enters the American Consulate several minutes into Act I, her pure soprano rising from backstage on "Quanto cielo!" a motif associated with the teenage geisha throughout. She is welcomed by Pinkerton, Syracuse native Dinyar Vania, who is flawless as the handsome, affable but insensible bridegroom. They sing of their attraction in "Viene la sera," a duet that builds to rapturous heights, establishing an expectation of excellence that is met each time the two interact. Vania's tenor flows like warm honey over Puccini's gorgeous melodies, and Lee's crystalline notes dance across the air.
In Act II, steadfastly awaiting Pinkerton's return, Butterfly and her blonde American son, Sorrow, played by Louis McKinny, watch the harbor. Butterfly's exquisitely performed aria, in which she sings of the one fine day Pinkerton will return, describes in detail what the reunion will be like. It falls to Pinkerton's compassionate colleague, Sharpless, Aleksey Bogdanov, to urge Butterfly to move on with her life. Bogdanov's expressive acting and velvety baritone exude empathy as he notes the lieutenant's disregard for Butterfly.
In despair, dreading her return to geisha life, Butterfly spies an approaching ship. Convinced Pinkerton has come for her, she cries, "Let the night be filled with flowers; let petals rain down," as she and her maid, Suzuki, Kristen Choi, strew petals and sing a spectacular, intricately woven duet.
Joy fades with the night. When, at length Pinkerton arrives, it is with his wife, Kate, Erica Schelkopf, who perceives Butterfly as an adorable pet and thoughtlessly announces she and Pinkerton will take the boy and raise him in America. Pinkerton, in his closing aria, admits his failures and declares himself a coward, a recognition that does nothing to ameliorate the suffering he has caused.
Butterfly has only one thing left to surrender -- her life. As foreshadowed, she will die, die by her own hand on her father's knife. Zambello's interpretation has the boy rush to his mother as Pinkerton arrives. The scene is wrenching as Cio-Cio-San, in her final sentient moments, aware of the two people she loves beside her, breathes her last.
Talented performers from the Glimmerglass Young Artists Program who enrich the cast are Ian McEuen as Goro, the marriage broker; Chris Carr, Adam Cioffari, Thomas Richards and Sean Michael Plumb.
The orchestra, augmented with harp and extra percussion, is conducted by Joseph Colaneri, a Puccini specialist, who inspires musicians in creating the enormous emotional impact of the opera. Leads, the supporting cast and chorus members offer exceptionally fine performances, and the balance between musicians and vocalists, all without amplification, is consistently pleasing.
Creating stage magic are Michael Yeargan, sets; Anita Yavich, costumes, and Robert Wierzel, lighting.
Glimmerglass's "Butterfly" is a familiar piece made new. With the final notes, audience members are left with a heightened awareness of their shared humanity and a fully realized sense of dramatic emotional involvement.
Details
What: "Madame Butterfly," Puccini's three-act opera set in Nagasaki, turn of the 20th Century.
When: Reviewed July 13, second performance. Thirteen performances through Aug. 23.
Where: Alice Busch Opera Theater, 7300 State Highway 80, Cooperstown, N.Y.
Running Time: Two hours and 45 minutes with one 25-minute intermission.
Tickets: 607-547-2255 or www.glimmerglass.org