Customer Reviews

Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Original 1904 Version)

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In my (young)life I have listened to maybe 600 opera-recordings (of which many M. Butterflys) and heard this asthonising masterpiece many pieces. So I'm not a beginner.
But I ABSOLUTELY disagree on the two reviews about this recording !
First of the all, this is the Butterfly-version, Puccini wanted to present to the world. When you have listened to the common version, you just feel the second act has to continue 'attaca' after the Humming Chorus in the third act (and together being one act) It's just a dramatically 'murder' when the second act 'ends'.
By the way, in some Butterfly-productions there is no curtain after the second act and the audience doesn't applaud.
And so it should be. The original 1904 version - presented here - has this remarkable effect that Puccini wanted to create with the intermezzo. Cio-cio San waiting and longing all night for her husband. It was this scene that inspired Puccini, when he saw the play by Belasco in London. He knew absolutely no English but that scene set his operatic brain to work. So it's crucial to the opera and it's needs to be heard and respected again, instead of the commercial' version in 3 acts Puccini prepared for the lazy Italian public after the Scala fiasco. Als the stupid arrietta 'Addio fiorito d'asil' is not there. Come on, Pinkerton is an ass-hole and an coward from the first act till the last! Puccini didn't want to show this in another way.
But of course the version itself doesn't make a good recording.
But this IS a good recording!
Who is G?nther Neuhold ? Neuhold is one of these European (German)conducters who do their job humble with all the quality's they have. He doesn't appear on big labels with a lot of commercial gaga. But he is one the best opera-conductors in Europe. A few years ago, he made (on two minor labels, Bella Musica and Brilliant Classics) one of the best dramatic live-recordings of Wagner's Ring (in a minor opera-theater in Karlsruhe in Germany). Two reviewers on Amazon quoted his approach as one the best together with Solti's !
And so is this recording! It's the first time a hear all the details in Puccini's score (the celesta, side-drum, the tamtam).
For heavens sake ! In Sinopoli's reading (DG) you hear only a lot of noise! Is it a side-drum, timpani or bass-strings, cimbals or high strings? You neven can tell for sure. That is so frustrating! And this recording gives us the transparance Puccini really needs.
This is also the first time I hear a good climax in the love-duet. It rises and rises, and really explodes with the FF tutti and clearly quoted cymbals on the top. What a relief to hear this after so many frustrating Butterflys (Sinopoli, Conlon, Karajan etc...all wortless except for the singing).
But I admit the singing is not first class, but it's also not really bad. It gives a good support to the superbe conducting of maestro Neuhold. For Puccini-opera you need in the first place : good an transparant conducting and singers must be at least satisfactory (or very good, of course). And this recording gives us what we need for Butterfly, at least ...


Sven De Boeck (Flanders, Belgium, Europe)

This recording has been the recipient of some unjustified negative press. It is actually a very fine recording, both from historic and artistic vantage points. Those of us that have loved this magnificent opera for many, many years, and have seen many live performances and possess a number of recordings of it, will appreciate this original 1904 performance as it is contrasted with the conventionally accepted so-called "Paris" version. We learn from the origins of this masterpiece just how it has come to be in the present day genre. We will appreciate the many cuts that Puccini made to the original version, creating a smoother, softer opera that makes the personality of Butterfly more focused. The principal singers, though unknown to us, are outstanding, matching on all fronts any of the name performers in other much more popular performances. The orchestra is excellent, and the conducting is passionate, understanding and flowing. What makes this recording so special is the producer's efforts. Great opera as well as other recordings just don't "appear" as a result of signing up singers, an orchestra and a conductor. No, the producer is also an artist, albeit not one that is heard. In this case, the talents of the producer are clearly apparent when one considers the very fine acoustics of the hall selected for the recording. The producer is also responsible for the selection of the singers, and, in this recording, the singers are complimentarily "balanced" against and with one another; they are not just a bunch of individual performers, which sometimes results when selecting just "names" for a recording, in order to better market the finished product. The orchestra plays every note beautifully, probably better than just about any other recording, save the fine performance given by the Vienna Philharmonic under von Karajan ( Decca). This, of course, is saying a lot, but this orchestra deserves such bravos. What a splendid product this is ! A treasure of the highest magnitude. Thank you, Naxos, for this offering. It is a revelation of joy. WCN

Good, if not great, performances of quite a bit of unfamiliar music (over 100 measures were later cut by Puccini). It's great to be able to hear this, but the big drawback here is that no translations of the libretto are provided. Since there is so much that isn't in the standard libretto, this is a serious deficiency. And the Italian-only libretto is full of mistakes and omissions to boot.

Who is this conductor? Gunter Neuhold. Who's ever heard of him?
The singers sound so amateur and so does the orchestra. The common worker can't listen to this recording. These singers are not famous and they can't sing any of their roles. The sound quality is really bad. Naxos can't find good tenors, sopranos, baritones, mezzos, or basses. Kristjan Johannssen should've played Pinkerton on this recording. Kristjan Johannssen and Lando Bartolini are probably the only tenors who'd save a bad naxos recording. This soprano who plays Butterfly here on this recording should've been replaced with either Kallen Esperian or Miriam Gauci. That last reviewer was right:This is not very good for the Rushinski amateur class, only upper class. And this is the 1904 version of Madama Butterfly. These people, even the conductor ruin the world premiere recording of this 1904 version of one of Puccini's greatest operas. People who are more upper class are Kristjan Johannssen, Kallen Esperian, Ara Berberian, Kim Josephson, Bernard Fitch, Philip Creech, and the conductor Julius Rudel. He should've conducted this recording instead of this guy named Gunter Neuhold. And those more upper class singers should've been on this recording instead of these really bad singers with dreadful voices. This Bremen Theater Chorus is one of the most awful out of all the naxos choruses. The orchestra sounds far worse than on the naxos recording of the revised version. Get the Alexander Rahbari recording of the revised version if you really want Madama Butterfly so badly. That has a far better cast and a far better orchestra, and the sound quality is much better there than on this recording. Miriam Gauci sounds like a female version of Kristjan Johannssen on that recording.

is good but yet not good. Is capitalist promotion. Not good for common worker. Is not good for Rushinski class only upper class.
Not to be allowed in one room homes.