Puccini - Madama Butterfly

Puccini - Madama Butterfly
by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle

Puccini - Madama Butterfly
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Christa Ludwig, Michel S?n?chal, Mirella Freni, Pl?cido Domingo, Robert Kerns
Director: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: German (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Unknown; English (Original Language), Unknown; German (Original Language), Unknown; French (Original Language), Unknown; Spanish (Original Language), Unknown; Mandarin Chinese (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Classical, Color, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 145 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon

Movie Reviews of Puccini - Madama Butterfly

Movie Review: The Many Faces of Madame Butterfly
Summary: 3 Stars

From the David Belasco play to Puccini's opera to Schonberg's Miss Saigon, there are many faces of Madame Butterfly. But none is any more exquisite than that of Mirella Freni-- especially as she sings the near-perfect aria, "Un bel di" and the Flower Song duet with Suzuki. However, Ponnelle, who staged and directed the film version, made Placido Domingo as Lt. Pinkerton a little too caddish for my taste. This version seems to resemble a faded memory that speaks not to the intellect but to the heart. It certainly deserves a place in any opera collection.

Summary of Puccini - Madama Butterfly

Of all Puccini's major operas, the intimate tragedy of Madama Butterfly is least in need of elaborate staging and might therefore benefit most from the close scrutiny of film. The story is domestic, the setting Spartan, the incidental characters kept to a minimum. This 1974 version, however, demonstrates that Butterfly still needs a healthy injection of proscenium arch melodrama. Director Jean-Pierre Ponelle's production strives for realism but remains unfortunately studio-bound, having neither the benefit of location filming nor the heightened reality of an opera stage. The exterior is a perpetually fog-shrouded heath of indeterminate locale; the interior is cramped and unadorned. The setting is just too prosaic to contain the epic emotions of grand opera.

Thankfully, the cast is a superb one, headed by Pl?cido Domingo's rakish Pinkerton and Mirella Freni's rubicund Butterfly. Their singing is incomparable, as is Herbert von Karajan's musical direction of the Vienna Philharmonic. The singers mime to prerecorded music, which is occasionally disconcerting since when film demands close-ups, opera provides broad gestures. Musically, this Butterfly is impeccable. Visually it adds nothing that could not be seen to better effect in a stage version. --Mark Walker

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