Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini's acclaimed drama from 1904, opens the season at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (OBV). It is a tragedy in which the audience, in a Hitchcockian twist, has a glimpse of the bomb from the very beginning. Under the direction of conductor Daniela Candillari, OBV brings a deep reflection on the past, present, and future – with its own twist.
In the moment
"Oh! l'amara fragranza/di questi fior, /velenosa al cor mi va;" with these words, Pinkerton (tenor Ovidiu Purcel) laments the result of his behavior. The story is simple: Pinkerton marries a Japanese woman, without intending to stay with her. Is it love, is it lust, is it both? The strength, and tragedy, of Madama Butterfly is how realistic the situation truly is. Human relationships are a mess, and sometimes one person has different intentions than the other person involved. For Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly; soprano Celine Byrne) it is clear from the beginning that this is the end of her innocence – and her life.
But the story also reflects on the importance of the small moments – or lies – that made an individual happy. Is this a correct reflection? Who knows. Madama Butterfly is ultimately also plagued by the historical context of war and colonization. The status quo between American naval officer Pinkerton and the charming, yet poor, Butterfly is from the start already imbalanced. Add to that poor communication and misguided intentions... it could not have ended any other way.
Now, as it turns out, Butterfly – who rejects her family and religion and refuses to listen to anyone – is also not so innocent. No one wins in this relationship. All of this makes Madama Butterfly a deeply sad, yet realistic opera.
Butterfly versus Maiko
OBV decides to give Madama Butterfly a mirror with a fictional story – about the suicide of director Maiko Nakamura – regarding (lost) identity. Butterfly, in the opera, rejects her own family and religion to complete herself with Pinkerton, to see herself as American. Maiko – who in her life struggles with the various deaths in her past, and her move from Japan to Europe – seemingly cannot handle the conflict, during the production, concerning her own identity any longer.
Madama Butterfly – a product of exoticism through a Western lens – is for myself always an opera with a caveat. By placing it in line with this narrative, OBV seems to make room for what the psychological narrative can mean, and thus pay less attention to the folkloristic stereotypes that haunt Madama Butterfly. I myself am very grateful for this new perspective. Identity, and the search for it, is something we all share. The set was extremely Japanese-inspired: the use of negative space, Japanese avant-garde-like costuming – it is Madama Butterfly anno 2024, without exoticism.
Then there is the performance. I cannot help but be full of praise for it. I may have even told Purcel that he was so convincing to me as Pinkerton that I felt like throwing a shoe at him – what a monster (of a character), but what a strong and convincing performance. Byrne convinced me especially with how quickly she could jump between an extremely vocal purity, and then bring a kind of speech dynamics to her voice that spoke of character. A bit of verismo in Puccini. Mezzo-soprano Lotte Verstaen, as Suzuki, was the ideal counterbalance for Byrne. The Duetto dei fiori – the moment when Butterfly, in full lovesickness, has Suzuki, who has a somewhat more realistic view of the situation, pluck the garden bare – was for me a "yes"-moment. As in "yes, the combination of these two voices, it works." Verstaen has a rich and strong lower register – something that star mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne has always stood for in this repertoire – and this contrasts beautifully with the more velvety tone of Byrne. This cast was a complete combination that certainly deserves all the praise.
OBV's Madama Butterfly shines. This is because it is not just another reinterpretation of the umpteenth exotic romance, but a reflection on the here and now. It gives us thoughts in which we can find ourselves. And this, for me, is what opera anno 2024 should be.