Madame Butterfly

Puccini (Artist), Tebaldi (Artist), Serafin (Artist), Bergonzi (Artist), Cossotto (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000041W5
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,926 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Act One: ...E soffito e pareti... (Pinkerton)

2. Act One: Sorride Vostro Onore? (Suzuki)

3. Act One: Dovunque al mondo (Pinkerton)

4. Act One: America For Ever (Pinkerton)

5. Act One: ler l'altro il Colaolato (Sharpless)

6. Act One: Ecco. Son giunte al sommo del pendio (Goro)

7. Act One: Gran ventura (Butterfly)

8. Act One: L'Imperial Commisario (Goro)

9. Act One: Vieni, amor mio! (Pinkerton)

10. Act One: leri son salita tutta sola in segreto allo Missione (Butterfly)

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Non lo sapete insomma (Butterfly)

2. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Si sa che aprir la porta (Butterfly)

3. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Udiste? (Goro)

4. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Ora a noi. Sedete qui (Sharpless)

5. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Ebbene, che fareste, Madama Butterfly (Sharpless)

6. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): E questo? E questo? (Butterfly)

7. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Che tua madre dovra prendeteri in braccio (Butterfly)

8. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Vespa! Rospo maledetto! (Suzuki)

9. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Una nave da guerra (Suzuki)

10. Act II - Part 1 (Conclusion): Scuoti quella fronda di ciliegio (Butterfly)

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tebaldi is better elsewhere, April 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Madame Butterfly (Audio CD)

I agree with the other reviewer-- Tebaldi's Butterfly just doesn't do it for me. I've heard both of her recordings of it and her appeal doesn't come through the way it does in her stunning Forza (buy the highlight disc immediately!), her truly magnificent Fanciulla del West, even her Wally (and who else could make something memorable out of that questionable piece?).The illusion of innocense is totally shattered after the wedding when the chorus ladies sing "Madama Butterfly" and Tebaldi answers "Madama F. B. Pikerton" and cuts loose with a huge, lusty laugh that's less appropriate for a shy 15-year-old than for a Sicilian fish wife.

Perhaps the Butterflys suffer by comparison, because there's no denying that her singing is still on a higher level than just about anyone else- and that includes her flatness at G and higher.

Come on, now, let's be honest: she never quite gets up to the highest notes. But that's part of the miracle of her singing; it's still incredible, stunning, gorgeous, moving-- everything else about her voice (especially the middle and bottom) is so amazing that you can't really appreciate operatic singing fully without at least hearing her voice. And when she's on, baby, it just makes your heart swell up until it feels like it might burst.

As for Butterfly- some purists may be horrified at this- but I really love the von Karajan with Mirella Freni. The soft high D she sings in Butterfly's entrace will leave you lying on the floor, gasping for breath. You might also try Callas's recording: I know, I know- but even people who hate her should hear the Act I duet. She's very suffuses her voice with fear and love.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid but uninteresting, November 26, 2000

By 

J. Luis Juarez Echenique "pepechenique" (Mexico City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Madame Butterfly (Audio CD)

Signora Tebaldi is a strange phenomenon for people under 40 who didn't have a chance to hear her live. Her marvelous voice is evident in her many recordings, but not much interpretative intuition comes across to make her truly memorable. As Cio-Cio-San we get the right spinto sound, but not the vulnerable affection to make her believable as a 13 year old. Maybe in a large theatre she could be more convincing, but under studio conditions she leaves me cold. Bergonzi sings a marvelous Pinkerton, but he can also be found in the best recording ever made of M. Butterfly: the Scotto/Barbirolli version in EMI, an infinetely more touching and poignant recording. Scotto may not have the gorgeous sound of Tebaldi, but she is much more interesting and credible in the title role. Barbirolli conducts a slower Butterfly than Serafin, but his reading too looks deeper and with more affection into the drama, and if you add the great Rolando Panerai as Sharpless, it's obvious that this is the best Butterfly ever made.