Puccini: Madama Butterfly
composed by Giacomo Puccini, 1858-1924; conducted by Paul Popescu; produced by Stefan Bonea; performed by Emil Gherman, Stefan Popescu, Mihaela Agachi, Eduard Tumageanian, Eugenia Moldoveanu, Mircea Moisa, Ioan Soanea, Alexandru Kopeczi and Corina Circa, Philharmonic Orchestra of Satu Mare and Chorus of Cluj-Napoca (Musical Concepts, 1996), 2 hours 12 mins
Details
- Field of Interest
- Classical Music
- Composer
- Giacomo Puccini, 1858-1924
- Conductor
- Paul Popescu
- Content Type
- Music recording
- Duration
- 2 hours 12 mins
- Recording Engineer
- Ion Bamea
- Ensemble
- Philharmonic Orchestra of Satu Mare, Chorus of Cluj-Napoca
- Format
- Audio
- Sub Genre
- Opera
- Label
- Musical Concepts
- Performer
- Emil Gherman, Stefan Popescu, Mihaela Agachi, Eduard Tumageanian, Eugenia Moldoveanu, Mircea Moisa, Ioan Soanea, Alexandru Kopeczi, Corina Circa
- Producer
- Stefan Bonea
- Date Recorded
- 1979
- Release Date
- 1996
- Review
- EMI's 1955 recording of Madama Butterfly features three of the brightest stars of the era, Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, and Herbert von Karajan. Callas hadn't yet sung {%Cio-Cio-San} on-stage when she made this recording, but she fully inhabits the role and brings penetrating insight to it. She's completely convincing as an adolescent, a remarkable feat in this role, which requires a voice of considerable heft. Callas beautifully captures {%Butterfly}'s vulnerability and sensitivity with an astonishingly youthful-sounding vocal freshness, and she's compellingly poignant as {%Butterfly}'s dilemma becomes clear to her. The only caveat about her performance is the intonation and purity of her sustained notes above the staff; several of them are painfully strident. Gedda is thoroughly caddish as {%Pinkerton}, and he sings with passion, but his voice shows some strain in the upper register.
Mario Borriello is a resonant, compassionate {%Sharpless}, and Lucia Danieli sings with warmth and security as {%Suzuki}. Karajan, leading the Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, has a sure grasp of the score's dramatic contour and makes this a highly charged reading. The orchestral playing is of the highest order. The recorded sound is clear and balance is good, but it shows its vintage; it's somewhat cramped and lacks depth. ~ Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide - Subject
- Classical Music, Music & Performing Arts, Romantic, Romanticismo, Romantica
- Keywords and Translated Subjects
- Romanticismo, Romantica