Opera Scotland

Madam Butterfly 2018Ellen Kent Productions

Read more about the opera Madama Butterfly

The spring 2018 tour by Opera and Ballet International, directed by Ellen Kent, consisted of three operas that are absolutely central to the modern repertoire - two by Verdi (Rigoletto, La traviata) and one by Puccini (Madama Butterfly). Rigoletto received far fewer performances, and none of them were in Scotland.  In fact, it was only a couple of weeks after these performances that Scottish Opera announced its next season - with a long run of Rigoletto through October and November. Dundee audiences only saw the Puccini.

That final performance of Butterfly in Dundee showed the current company on good form. The singers of Pinkerton, Sharpless and Suzuki are now familiar faces and all gave excellent and detailed vocal and dramatic interpretations. The new Korean soprano singing the title role also fitted in well, with a voice with a richer basic tone than we have heard for a while. Among the smaller roles the Yamadori and Kate made a particular impression.

The basic design (uncredited) was much as before. A unit set for both acts makes this work particularly suitable for the technical limitations of the Caird Hall stage setup. The chorus costumes in the first act, well matched pastel shades looking particularly subtle, worked very well. The lighting for the Humming Chorus and nightfall could perhaps have been more distinctive. Conductor Vasyl Vasylenko and his Ukrainian orchestra were as stylish as they had been in Edinburgh's Traviata three nights before, though the small size of the band is perhaps less suited to Puccini than Verdi.