Madama Butterfly in Vancouver.

Last night I saw Puccini's Madama Butterflyin Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth theater. I must say that I was rather disappointed. Jonathan Darlington's rendition of this magnificent opera sounded somewhat perfunctory and although precise; it did not project the impassioned disquiet of Puccini's score. The orchestration colouring of Butterfly must embody a mixture of reality and fiction, that would recreate a virtual Japan, but still it must remain very much an Italian opera.

The disastrous  combination of sets, costumes, and projected videos by artist Jun Kaneko, was a major distraction that interfered with the tragic anxiety of Cio-Cio-San. At times the projection of animated graphic patterns was overbearing, to the extent that one could forget  that he or she is watching  an opera!. The animation looked particularly pathetic with a callow sketch of the battleship Lincoln arriving into harbor with an oversize American flag flaunting awkwardly from its rear deck, and  the exaggerated Cirque du Soleil  type of  lighting  was not of any help.

Kaneko’s busy multimedia artwork exerted  a great pressure on Cio-Cio-San character, who had to stay onstage throughout the performance  and had to interpret a tremendous array of emotions. The Japanese  soprano Mihoko Kinoshita, despite her remarkable vocal range,  was not suitable for the role. Her acting was rigid, the dark tonal color of her soprano sound, especially in its chest register was unsuitable, and her technical, impassive rendition was undermining her credibility as a 15-year-old girl who become a single mother at 18. Although Puccini took great pains to recreate the "realistic" musical atmosphere of Japan, it should not be forgotten that Butterfly is still an Italian opera. In other words, it is not an authentic Japanese drama that  would require a  Japanese artist in the role.

The only positive element in this performance was tenor James Valenti's impressive interpretation of Pinkerton.