Product Details

• Actors: Nazzareno Antinori, Gianni Brunelli, Mario Ferrara, Bruno Grella, Eleonora Jankovic
• Directors: Brian Large
• Writers: David Belasco, Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica
• Format: Classical, Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kultur Video
• VHS Release Date: January 13, 2004
• Run Time: 145 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0769721036
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #300,074 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This traditional production of Puccini's enduringly popular opera Madama Butterfly should give much pleasure. It was recorded at the open-air theatre in Verona in 1983 with the local orchestra and chorus under the aptly named Maurizio Arena. The video direction is by an expert in the field, Brian Large, who brings home all the intimate moments of Puccini's drama from an open set that ascends and sprawls across rows of seating. His camera draws the viewer into scenes that the audience cannot witness from a distance--most movingly when Sharpless, the American consul in Nagasaki, gives up his attempt to read Pinkerton's letter to Butterfly saying he has no intention of seeing her again (set to that magical melody which will recur as the humming chorus).

It's of little matter that there are no operatic stars in the cast, for this ensemble consists of experienced singers who fill the night air with lungs to match Puccini's heaviest demands. The audience greets the show-stopping moments with waves of applause. Their enthusiasm may drown a few bars of orchestral continuity, but the orchestra itself is always at the service of the singers on a soundtrack that captures the atmosphere of an open-air performance with astonishing verisimilitude. Butterfly, sung by the statuesque Raina Kabaivanska, may not look 16 and some of her arm movements are overdone, but her big number, "Un bel di," and its reprise are touchingly conveyed. Nor does she overplay the final scene--a moment that sends a shiver down the spine in its economy. Nazzareno Antinori as her Pinkerton, with his matinee idol looks and resonant voice, complements her well; their singing of Puccini's spacious love duet at the close of Act One is a treat with the crowd. --Adrian Edwards

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MAGNIFICENT! BEST BUTTERFLY EVER!, June 19, 2000

By 

Mhellerman "mhellerman" (Lincoln, NE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Puccini - Madama Butterfly / Arena, Kabaivanska, Antinori, Arena di Verona [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Dear fellow music lover! I am so happy Amazon is bringing this title to us!

This video is filmed in the Arena di Verona, with the MAGNIFICENT singer and actress Raina Kabaivanska!

This Madama Butterfly has everything you could ask for: Excelent singers (Kabaivanska and Nazzareno Antinori as Pinkerton plus the cast), it is wonderfully directed by Maurizio Arena, and the film is so well done, that you can actually appreciate all the "flavors" of the orquestration, while at the same time, hear very clearly every detail of the what's being sung...

The regie is FANTASTIC! Costumes and sets are impecable, and EVERY movement has a reason for being there... it is SO wonderful (I hope my enthusiasm can inspire you to see it!),

If you are someone who enjoys opera, you will be flabergasted with this version...

If you are into opera, the close ups are so wonderful that, let me tell you, it is like getting your own private lesson from Kabaivanska and Antinori!

This version is by far my favourite of all the Butterfly's that I have seen. Will delight very knowleageable people, opera amateurs, as well as people who know nothing about opera (but this one will "hook them up"! :-)

I do not get tired of watching it... every note, every movement is rich and deeply full of meaning.

Hope you enjoy it (and learn from it) as much as I do!

Ire

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incomparable!, March 12, 2004

By 

Greeta K. Brown "Prof. of Music (Ret.)" (Anchorage, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Giacomo Puccini - Madama Butterfly / Kaibaivanska, Antinori, Jankovic, Saccomani, Ferrara (Arena di Verona) (DVD)

In Act I, Pinkerton describes Butterfly as "bewitching with her innocent arts. Delicate and fragile as blown glass, in stature, in bearing she resembles a figure on a painted screen, but, as from her background of glossy lacquer with a sudden movement she frees herself like a butterfly, she flutters and settles with quiet grace . . .."
Critics from Euroope agree those attributes are expressed to perfection by Bulgarian soprano, Raina Kabaivanska. "Incomparable," is the word most often used to describe her interpretation. Far from "unknown," she has been acclaimed for her over 400 performances of this role. For Butterfly and other operas, the beautiful Kabaivanska has been titled, "Queen of opera melodrama."
It is our great loss that the cast filmed in the DVD is unknown in the U.S. We must look to Europe to know that they are all artists of the first magnitude. Mezzo=soprano, Eleanora Jankovic, appears in many operas, and her performance as Suzuki is among her most famous roles. Her voice is as rich and true as is her evident devotion to Cio Cio Can: Butterfly. Lorenzo Saccomani, Sharpless here, has had many years as one of the most sought after baritones in opera. The same is true of tenor Nazzareno Antinari. Do not overlook Maestro Maurizio Arena! He is very sensitive to the musical nuances of Puccini.
Although this tragic heroine is age 15 years in Act I, and no more than 19 years in Act III, the viewer MUST know that Puccini was well aware this role could never be sung by any young girl. If the listener expects to hear a teen singing Butterfly, or that none but Japanese should sing any but the three Caucasian roles, this recording is not for you. If you seek the live performance nearest to perfection, this is your recording.
The lyrical beauty of Madama Butterfly can be misleading. Its melodic flow is stunning. Even the recitatives seem melodic. It is deceptive in that the role of Butterfly is exceedingly difficult. The former Geisha must evolve from an innocent young girl, adoring of her betrothed, Lt. Pinkerton, in the first act, to a stubbornly believing young mother, certain her beloved will return "when the robins finally nest in America." In these acts, Butterfly is pressed to changing emotions as sung in her nearly constant presence on stage.
The third act is the most demanding of all. While the great Kabaivanska is superb in Acts I and II, it is in the third act she accomplishes her own magic. From a deep well of vocal reserve and character portrayal, she leads the audience through the most heart breaking series of realizations. Her first fear is that Pinkerton is dead. We share her fear. But, Pinkerton lives, and we share the enormous relief Butterfly knows. The relief is short lived when she realizes he will not return. There is a brief moment of respite, and suddenly she knows the lady in the garden is Pinkerton's wife. With Butterfly, we believe all is over for her. There is no time for a breath of relief when the final agony seizes Butterfly, and us, and she knows the entire answer: they want to take everything away from her, even her son. There is no vocal relief for the artist. Until the end, and we hear her final aria, "Tu, Tu, Tu, . . . " we must wonder where this artist has kept such a reserve of vocal and emotional power. We are as emotionally spent as Butterfly, and all because of the incomparable performance of Raina Kabaivanska, who becomes, before our very eyes and ears, Cil Cio San, Butterfly.
Technicians marvel at the glorious dynamic ranges of this artist. Lovers of opera marvel at the glorious voice as well as her ability to interpret a role. As one critic from Italy wrote of La Kabaivanska, "One never knows where the sublime singer ends and the great actress begins. They are as one."
G. K. Brown, D.M.A. Prof. of Music (Ret.)

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Essential Butterfly, February 27, 2004

By 

photographer (Katy, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giacomo Puccini - Madama Butterfly / Kaibaivanska, Antinori, Jankovic, Saccomani, Ferrara (Arena di Verona) (DVD)

This 1983 Butterfly production of the Italian Radio and Television from Arena Di Verona is excellent. The DVD transfer from the original material is seamless - the video is vivid and clear, the audio (although only 2 channel) is dynamic and balanced. I also listened through my surround sound receiver's 5-channel stereo mode and felt like being in the middle of the Arena.

Now for the real treat: do not believe Amazon's editorial review that there are no opera superstars in this production. On the contrary this recording features the fantastic bulgarian singer Raina Kabaivanska, who is undeniably the best Butterfly performer in recent history and one of the greatest Puccini singers overall. It is a pity that she is not recognized as a diva in the US. But thanks to this wonderful DVD the american opera fans will be able to enjoy her magnificent singing and be emotionally dazzled by her brilliant acting. Her captivating performance in the final scene will leave you mesmerized.

Highly recommended!