The production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly recorded at Covent Garden earlier this year is a remount of the 2003 production by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier directed this time by Daisy Evans.  It’s about as conventional as a Butterfly production can be.  There’s the odd bit of visual interest like a shedding cherry tree in the finale but mostly it’s standard operatic Japanese bar, perhaps, the cut and colour of Pinkerton’s suit in Act 3.

There’s no attempt to find anything in the work that’s not obvious.  This is rather reinforced by the “Extra” interviews with cast members who talk about emotions and the beauty of the music but studiously avoid getting into any of the problems of the piece.  The only note of individuality is Joshua Guerrero, our Pinkerton, claiming that in this piece “everyone is a victim” which I suppose may make playing opera’s greatest cad a bit more bearable.  I was still curious to see if Asmik Grigorian could make something special out of Cio-Cio-San.

The bottom line is that even she could not really add any insight to this production.  She gives a fine performance with gorgeous singing and affecting acting but her presence isn’t enough to make the thing catch fire.  The rest of the cast is excellent too.  Guerrero is a fine Pinkerton bar perhaps some histrionics in Act 3 where he tries desperately to make Pinkerton sympathetic.  Lauri Vasar is a sympathetic Sharpless who comes across as a very human being and sings with great beauty.  Hongni Wu is perhaps the best Suzuki I have seen.  She has a lovely darkish mezzo and is a terrific actor.  It’s a performance that makes Suzuki mu ch more than the after thought she sometimes seems.  The minor characters are all just fine.  Kevin John Edusei conducts efficiently, if perhaps a bit unobtrusively.  Might Antonio Pappano have given it a bit more blood and guts?  The Royal Opera House orchestra and chorus are just fine.

Bridget Caldwell directs for video and it’s a very conventional transfer.  Most of the time the spare stage is very empty so I can see why she uses a lot of close ups.  We see what we need to see.  On Blu-ray the picture and sound (PCM stereo and DTS-HD-MA) are perhaps even better than normal Blu-ray, so very good indeed.  The “extras” amount to 15 minutes of interviews with conductor and cast and are less insightful than some ROH releases.  Subtitle options are English, French, German, Italian, Korean and Japanese.  The documentation is minimal as seems to be the norm with recent Opus Arte disks.

If you are looking for new insights into one of the canon’s “problem operas” this disk isn’t going to help you at all.  If you can stand another entirely traditional production this one is really excellent with singing and acting that stands up to anything in the catalogue coupled with first rate technical values.

Catalogue information: Opus Arte OABD7328D