There was a large audience in the Caird Hall on Monday night for a performance of Puccini’s famous and well-loved opera Madama Butterfly.
The reasons are two-fold. First – its music, not to mention its tragic tale, is box-office gold. Second – the performance was by the Ukrainian National Opera’s Dnipro Opera company.
Whether your motivations were musical or political – out of solidarity to the beleaguered nation – there was the prospect of a wonderful night at the opera.
However, for me at least, it didn’t materialise quite like that. I’ve seen many productions of this opera in the Caird Hall presented by touring companies and this one didn’t capture me in the way others have.
Normally Puccini’s operas hit me in the heart and leave me hot and bothered. Not this time, I’m afraid to say. The set was there, the music was there – what was missing was the emotion. It lacked the oomph that propels you to operatic ecstasy.
I found the pace of the opening act rather pedestrian, and it wasn’t until the second half when things picked up. Even the wonderful duet between Pinkerton (Zinevych Ruslan) and Butterfly (Dolhina Olena) –Vogliatemi bene (Love me please) – didn’t stir the emotions.
Interaction between the leading roles in any opera is pivotal to its success as a performance, and I felt more could be done to these iconic operatic characters.
Things did pick up as the second act (acts 2 and 3 were combined) is where the real action takes place and the tension builds. This was far more like it.
This is also where Olena and Halkina Tetiana (Suzuki) came to the fore, the former’s Un Bel Di proving to be one of the show’s hits.
I was a wee bit disappointed with Ruslan’s Pinkerton, although the audience seemed to relish his role as the “baddie”. In fact, I thought the portrayal of Sharpless by Lomakovych Andrii took the plaudits when it came to the male principals. An unusual switch of prominence, I have to say.
Production-wise, the opera ran smoothly with the hall once again successfully transformed into a theatre. I often feel orchestras don’t get the recognition they deserve, so full marks to Pushkov Ihor and his charges for making the most of Puccini’s wonderful score.
While emotions did finally come to fruition as the opera drew to a close, there was a final act that brought the evening to a close in a memorable way. The Ukrainian national anthem, complete with national flag on stage sung lustily by the cast with some flag-wearing members of the audience. It was a show of patriotism and solidarity seldom seen on the operatic circuit.
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