Controversy surrounding Opera Australia’s programming for its 2015 season was swept aside by the stellar performance of Hiromi Omura as Madama Butterfly. To hear and see her in a role that she inhabits with total conviction and sublime artistic mastery is an experience that no lover of grand opera should miss.
Moffat Oxenbould’s stylish production has had several revivals but is no less welcome for that, given its exceptional appeal. It has a simplicity and beauty that keeps the focus on the main characters and the intensity of the music. Drawing on elements of Kabuki Theatre, friends, relatives and attendants are incorporated judiciously and deployed in carefully choreographed stylized configurations. Masked servants, dressed in stark white, are almost ghostly in their quiet, self-effacing efficiency. Exceptionally lovely singing from the ladies of the chorus in the off-stage Humming Chorus was perhaps even more poignant as simply an aural accompaniment to Cio-Cio-San’s vigil and, at the risk of breaking the mood, the audience felt impelled to applaud.
Designers Peter England and Russell Cohen have opted for clean lines inspired by a Japanese aesthetic. Watery expanses are used to great effect, particularly as they become subtly agitated as a reflection of Cio-Cio-San’s emotional state. Atmospheric lighting and the strewing of the petals over the water for the Flower Duet contribute to the magic.
All of this provided the perfect backdrop for Hiromi Omura’s embodiment of love and betrayal. At several points the libretto refers to Cio-Cio-San’s life as a dancer and such was the grace of her movements that, without being in any way contrived, her every gesture seemed to flow as part of an exquisite dance. It was plain to see why this alluring exotic creature would fascinate American sailor, Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton.
Although Hiromi Omura’s sumptuous voice is considerably more mature than what would be expected of a fifteen year old, it was easy to suspend disbelief and enter Puccini’s world, where such opulence is exactly what is required to do full justice to his soaring vocal line. Unforced power throughout the range along with superb control of colour and dynamics were all at the service of a riveting characterization. As her servant Suzuki, Sian Pendry was vocally and dramatically superb. Their Flower Duet was simply ravishing.
James Egglestone made a dashing, virile Pinkerton. Initially arrogant and devoid of understanding and empathy, he nevertheless made an ardent and, later, remorseful lover. In Act I the orchestra tended to overwhelm the voices at times, but both he and Michael Honeyman as Sharpless, the United States Consul in Nagasaki, came into their own in Act II. Egglestone’s final despairing cry of “Butterfly, Butterfly!” was a powerful and heart-rending conclusion to the opera.
Strong, clearly delineated performances also came from Graeme Macfarlane as the calculating marriage broker, Goro, Jud Arthur as an imposing Bonze and Samuel Dundas as Prince Yamadori.
Under the baton of an ebullient Guillaume Tourniaire, Orchestra Victoria was in fine fettle. There were beautiful solos from Concertmaster Roger Jonsson and Principal oboe Stephen Robinson, and some weighty dramatic passages from the lower strings.
Puccini’s magnificent score aside, the story of Madama Butterfly continues to resonate with modern audiences in new ways. Ken Russell employed shock tactics with his devastating Nagasaki atomic bomb finale as the ultimate expression of destructive Western imperialism. Today’s audience cannot help but be mindful that 2015 is a year calling for the end of violence against women. We can view Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton as the products of two dysfunctional social systems that are responsible for tragic consequences.
Whatever social implications were evoked, it was the music and the sublime singing in a stunning setting that reigned supreme in this performance. As the petals floated from the ceiling of the State Theatre and tissues were hastily tucked away, the roar of approval that greeted Hiromi Omura when she took her bow signaled a triumphant opening to Opera Australia’s Melbourne season.
Picture of Hiromi Omura by Jeff Busby
