LINCOLN CENTER

Metropolitan Opera
Madama Butterfly - Puccini

"‘Madama Butterfly’ (Thursday) Peter Gelb inaugurated his tenure as general director of the Metropolitan Opera in 2006 with the Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella’s visually beautiful production of this Puccini opera. That bold staging, with its movable screens, billowing fabrics and stylized costumes, returns with the South African soprano Amanda Echalaz, in her company debut, as Cio-Cio-San. The fast-rising tenor Bryan Hymel sings Pinkerton. Philippe Auguin conducts."

MUSIC|OPERA REVIEW

A Met Debut as That Besotted Geisha, Adamant That He Will Be True

‘Madama Butterfly,’ With Amanda Echalaz in the Title Role

By CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM

JAN. 17, 2014

       

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

           

In many ways, Anthony Minghella’s production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” which returned to the Metropolitan Opera on Thursday, resembles an insect collection in which colorful, exotic specimens are fixed on a neutral background and bathed in a sharp, bright light. It’s a fitting way to present this ever-popular opera about a caddish American naval officer who enters into a nonbinding marriage with a teenage Japanese geisha and then abandons her, pregnant, lovesick and cast out from her community. Featuring innovative puppetry by Blind Summit Theater, it’s also an uncomfortable production that introduces multiple perspectives in ways that illuminate and alienate in equal measure.

It’s up to the singers, then, to breathe life and warmth into the story. On Thursday, the cast was led by the South African soprano Amanda Echalaz, who made her house debut in the title role after leaving her mark on European stages, including those of the Royal Opera House in London, La Monnaie in Brussels and the Berlin State Opera. Elegant and slender — Pinkerton scoops her up effortlessly in his arm to carry her over the threshold on their wedding night — with a clear-flowing, nimble voice across the range, she gave a performance that was deservedly well received by the audience. But there was also an evenness of timbre, bordering on the monochromatic, in her singing, mirrored in the self-possessed composure of her character, which suggested either nerves or excessive caution.

Bryan Hymel was vocally assured as the thoughtlessly callous Pinkerton, singing with a robust tenor and ringing top notes. His acting was most convincing in the optimistic seduction scene of Act I. When he returned with his American bride at the end of the opera, he appeared more uncomfortable than contrite. But his voice fit the verismo style well. Next month, he will sing in Puccini’s early opera “Edgar” in Frankfurt.

Scott Hendricks made a felicitous house debut as Sharpless, bringing a warm, generous baritone to the role of the decent but impotent American consul. The mezzo Elizabeth DeShong was outstanding as Butterfly’s servant Suzuki. With her deeply resonant low register, she created a character who is tragically prescient about the unfolding disaster.

Alexey Lavrov glowed fiercely as Yamadori, a suitor Butterfly spurns because she believes in Pinkerton’s return. Ryan Speedo Green as the Bonze had trouble making himself heard as he cursed Butterfly for converting to Christianity, one of several instances in the first act where balance was an issue.

This might have been due to the last-minute substitution of Marco Armiliato, as conductor, for Philippe Auguin, who had fallen ill. Mr. Armiliato had been scheduled to conduct subsequent performances of “Butterfly” this spring, but may not have had time to work with this cast, resulting in a somewhat tentative opening act. By Act II, these jitters had been put to rest, and the letter-reading scene with Sharpless and Butterfly was painfully beautiful, with the drip-drip of tragedy expressed in pizzicato strings, while Butterfly’s fragile legato lines stand for her delusional hope.

In her final scene, Ms. Echalaz finally drew on greater reserves of vocal color. The staging of her suicide was spectacular and almost indecently beautiful, as her red sash unraveled into ribbons of blood.

MUSEUM

J. P. Morgan