Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Milan, 1956)

Cast: Anna Moffo (Cio-Cio San), Renato Cioni (Pinkerton), Afro Poli (Sharpless), Miti Truccato Pace (Suzuki), Gino del Signore (Goro), Leila Dori (Kate), Pierluigi Latinucci (Yamadori), Dimitri Lopatto (Bonze), Aristide Baracchi (Commissario); RAI Milan, Oliviero de Fabritiis (conductor), Mario Lanfranchi (director)

Recorded at RAI Milan in 1956

Issued on DVD by VAI in 2004 [4284, NTSC / all regions, menus in English, subtitles in English, French, German]

Technical details
Aspect ratio 4:3
Sound Monaural
Video Monochrome

Running Time 127 minutes
Sung in Italian
Until now, this film had been legendary. Anna Moffo's breakthrough in Italy, it inspired enthusiasm which propelled her through successful careers in many houses for more than a decade. Suffice it to say that the enthusiasm was justified. She appears naively lovely in Act I, outwardly sure but uncertain inside in Act II, and tragically committed in Act III. With skillful use of floated mezza voce and a satisfying lower register, her lyric instrument is never taxed and always satisfying.

The second joy of this recording is de Fabritiis's conducting. Always sure and firmly Italian, with no trace of added chinoiserie, he leads a sound, satisfying performance. The rest of the cast is solid down to Lopatto's rather awkward Bonze. The production is 'over the top' in a purely traditional sense, with rather more gesturing, bowing and scraping than we are accustomed to today, but when our Butterfly is flitting about, the actions of others are mere background.

Audio is rather strident; one can still enjoy the score, but its depth and its subtleties are lost. Video is poor: soft in focus and in sepia tones which become tiresome early on, it suffers occasional bad frames as well. For those faults and the productions excesses, this should not be your first Madama Butterfly, but it is highly recommended as the complement to whatever other you choose.
 
Related website:
Video Artists International (VAI) http://www.vaimusic.com/
 
Michael Richter, 24 September 2004
mrichter@cpl.net
 
See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.