A New "Butterfly" Takes Wing

Although we were told a few years ago that the EMI "Tristan", with Domingo (b. 1941) finally in the title role, opposite the excellent Nina Stemme (b. 1963), would be the last studio recording of a complete opera, now comes Antonio Pappano's exciting new "Madama Butterfly". Pappano has been Music Director of Covent Garden since 2002, and Music Director of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia since 2005. Recorded in Rome with the latter orchestra, this set brims with an exuberant sense of spontaneity and genuine Italianita, although the title role is taken very successfully by the Romanian Diva Angela Gheorghiu (b. 1965), and Pinkerton is sung by the rising German tenor star Jonas Kaufmann (b. 1969). The set feels, very pleasantly, like an echo from the heyday of the classical record industry, when singers trooped off to Italy (or London or Vienna) every summer to record, and collectors looked forward eagerly to stacks of new complete recordings in due course. It was another time, and it's useful to remember that a lot of those sets can seem generic, and many were assigned to inappropriate conductors. Erich Leinsdorf (1912-1993), for example, a fine conductor in the German repertoire, made a lot of recordings that give the distinct impression that he's embarrassed by the music ("Aida", "Turandot", "Il Tabarro") and rushing through the parts he dislikes—which are many.

Antonio Pappano (b. 1959) is an excellent conductor, and he guides this exciting performance with complete mastery, unembarrassed by Puccini's passion, while always supporting his singers and breathing with them. He draws playing of wonderful color and fire from his Italian orchestra, and the excellent recording team, also Italian, brings it very convincingly to disc. I have no idea how many of these orchestra musicians have played "Butterfly" before, but they obviously have this music in their blood. I find their playing preferable here to the more international style most opera orchestras, even the very best ones, provide. The supporting cast is generally fine. This is a very idiomatic "Butterfly" in nearly every respect.

And those respects are the soprano and tenor leads. Gheorghiu, whom I've heard twice in San Francisco in the last year or so, first as Magda in Puccini's "La Rondine", and more recently as Mimi in "La Boheme", would seem to be something of a Puccini specialist lately. The voice, although rather dark in color, is a little on the small side for Cio-Cio-san. The character demands great subtlety and reticence to be believable, but the role is very long, and she has a lot of music that requires a spinto. Once she makes her delayed entrance, singing an offstage aria capped by a high D, (a difficult note for most spintos) she rarely leaves the stage. A purely lyric soprano would find the love duet taxing, but possibly manageable, but that's just the beginning of the challenges. After "Un bel di", the letter scene in Act II turns quite dramatic. "Ah, mi scordata!" is very heavy musically and emotionally, and the orchestration is dense and loud. At the very end, the suicide scene is very demanding, over a heavy orchestra, and the singer has been working hard all evening. That can be overcome in a recording, but I don't expect Ms. Gheorghiu to sing this part onstage. Pappano, who has recorded often with Gheorghiu, supports her perfectly here, and she navigates the dangers unharmed. She colors her naturally beautiful instrument with great imagination and delicacy. She has some of the shimmering beauty of de los Angeles, some of the beautiful word-pointing of Scotto, a little of the depth of character of Callas, and an individuality of voice and utterance all her own. She sings a very fine Butterfly here.

Jonas Kaufmann is, I think, the most interesting tenor now singing, Villazon (b. 1972) and Florez (b.1973) included. Now 40, Kaufmann has arrived at his absolute prime, and he sings a daringly broad repertoire: it includes Des Grieux in Massenet's "Manon", Jose in Bizet's "Carmen", and he's singing "Lohengrin" at the Bavarian State Opera this season. The voice is an exciting one, baritonal and commanding, but he is also able to sing at any volume level throughout his range—and he caps the love duet with a high C that any tenor would be thrilled to have, and it is an easy, large, full note that thrills the listener as well. I have not heard him in the theater, so I can't say if the voice is as large as it sounds on records; sometimes tenors, especially German-speaking tenors, have smaller voices than their recordings lead one to hope. Mr. Kaufmann's voice does not sound like a small one. He is aslo an exceptionally fine actor. Pinkerton has little to sing after Act I, and with Kauffman in the role, that is a shame. In the love duet he constantly refines his tone to match Gheorghiu, never bellows, never croons, is always inside the character, and generally covers himself with glory. If he has any fault here at all, it might be that he seems a little too much the (vocal) gentleman. Kaufmann is that great rarity among tenors, an artist of immaculate taste. There is no trace of vulgarity in his singing--he reminds me of Nicolai Gedda in this respect, who partners both de los Angeles in this role under Beecham, and Callas under von Karajan, both by 1955. This is a tenor who has also reminded me in other recordings, with his baritonal, heroic vocal stance, a little of Vickers, without that great singer's idiosyncrasies. But when I hear this singer, I see his face. Jonas Kaufmann sounds like nobody but Jonas Kaufmann, and that, for me, is the mark of the great singer. I will be sure to collect every Jonas Kaufmann recording I can find, and I hope there are many, many more. I would love to hear him as Calaf or Dick Johnson. This is a tenor with a great career before him, in fact, a singer who can choose several different paths--Italian, French, and German Fachs--or Wagner. Jonas Kaufmann as Siegmund, Tristan, Siegfried...that might be a kind of heroic dream come true. But surely there would be no more Puccini or Massenet if he chose that path. I will follow his career with fascination and enthusiasm.

In short, an excellent new "Madama Butterfly". If you'd like to make comparisons, I'd suggest Scotto and Bergonzi under Barbarolli, Callas and Gedda under von Karajan, Tebaldi and Campora under Erede, dal Monte and Gigli under de Fabritiis.