Madama Butterfly / Opera Australia, Cheryl Barker, Jay Hunter Morris
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DVD Cover Information
Brand: KulturDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 141 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-05-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: KULTUR VIDEO
Movie Reviews of Madama Butterfly / Opera Australia, Cheryl Barker, Jay Hunter Morris
Movie Review: A Powerful Piece of Theater
Summary: 5 Stars
In many ways this Opera Australia (OA) Madama Butterfly reminds me of the 1993 OA La Boheme -- Puccini - La Boheme / Baz Luhrmann, The Australian Opera (2002 Edition). Each production illuminates relationships and develops the libretto in ways which make the story more meaningful and understandable. For example, Butterfly and Suzuki are clearly girlfriends and not merely mistress and loyal servant in the OA Butterfly.
If you value opera as a theatrical experience, both this DVD and the OA La Boheme are hard to beat. If you care only about the music making and could care less about the drama on stage, stick with Scotto and Callas. Each is in excellent form and their Madama Butterfly studio recordings are superior to the sometimes difficult acoustics of the Sydney Opera House. Visually, however, the Scotto and Callas recordings are no competition since these sound-only recordings lack any video.
Everyone in the OA cast not only acts and sings well, but each has a physical appearance that matches their character well. Cheryl Barker, the only principal who is also in the OA La Boheme, is even better as Butterfly than she was as Mimi. Done four years later in 1997 (not in 1974 as indicated on Amazon's site), Barker's voice is significantly stronger, although she had yet to achieve the vocal polish she reached in 2003 when recording her Puccini Passion CD with Richard Bonynge (Puccini: Passion). In both operas, her acting is animated, engaging, and moving, getting better as each opera moves from opening to final act. No soprano capable of singing Madama Butterfly can realistically portray the 15 year old Butterfly of Act 1. Barker comes close, although by the end of Act 1 she still seems to me more woman than child. In Acts 2 and 3, however, she very much captures the teenage, 18 year old Butterfly in a way that no one else I have seen has attempted, let alone managed.
It is worth noting director Moffatt Oxenbould's staging. The set has a stylish, traditional feel despite using a modern, minimalist approach to the point where sometimes humans discretely play furniture, parts of Butterfly's house, dream figments, and other things. No doubt clothing the principle players in traditional appearing garments, the extensive use of wood and screens, and the inherently minimalist nature of Japanese aesthetics contributes to the traditional feel. Still, it is remarkable that overall effect is much closer to turn-of-the-century Japan than something resembling a space ship. Also noteworthy is the work of lighting designer Robert Bryan who makes the color and shading of Butterfly's house echo the mood and circumstances of the libretto.
In summary, this is a superb Madama Butterfly, if you have an interest in what is happening on stage. Even if you could care less about the drama, you still should find Barker's well sung Butterfly worth hearing despite the Sydney Opera House's less than super acoustics.
Summary of Madama Butterfly / Opera Australia, Cheryl Barker, Jay Hunter Morris
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