Puccini: Madama Butterfly

Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Tullio Serafin (Conductor), Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra (Orchestra), Angelo Mercuriali (Performer), Carlo Bergonzi (Performer), Enzo Sordello (Performer), Fiorenza Cossotto (Performer), Lidia Nerozzi (Performer), Michele Cazzato (Performer), Oscar Nanni (Performer), Paolo Washington (Performer), Renata Tebaldi (Performer), Virgilio Carbonari (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Angelo Mercuriali, Carlo Bergonzi, Enzo Sordello, Fiorenza Cossotto, Lidia Nerozzi, et al.
• Orchestra: Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra
• Conductor: Tullio Serafin
• Composer: Giacomo Puccini
• Audio CD (March 9, 1999)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000I930
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,329 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Opera I Love That I Know I Should Loath, May 10, 2006

By	Timothy Kearney (Hull, MA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I'll admit that MADAMA BUTTERFLY is not one of my favorite operas, at least as far as characters are concerned. I find Pinkerton repulsive and as an American, I hate the fact that one of opera's most popular works has what is perhaps the most obvious example of an "Ugly American." I remember reading that some American critics hated the work at its New York premiere for the reasons I state. And yes I know, there are far more vile characters in opera than "Love'm and Leave'm Pinkerton, but he's so realistic ,Cio Cio San is so vulnerable, and Puccini's music so fits the story, I almost hate to listen to the opera because the same tragedy happens over and over again. Yet every time I put the CDs in the player and hear the string prelude, I know I have to listen because there are some of opera's most emotional and passionate musical moments in this work.

There are a number of tremendous recordings of this work available with some of operas greatest stars as Cio Cio San: Maria Callas, Mirella Freni, Anna Moffo, and Renata Tebaldi. Tenors who love the bravado of Pinkerton include Pavarotti, Carreras, Domingo, Mario Del Monaco and Carlo Bergonzi. Any set with any of these stars is musical heaven, but for me the BUTTERFLY of choice is this mid priced set with Renata Tebaldi and Carlo Bergonzi under the direction of Tulio Serafin. Anytime I listen to it, I'm captivated by the performance and drawn into the drama. It is often considered one of Tebaldi's best studio recordings, and Decca has used excerpts from this recording in many of its opera compilations.

Since this is a role often associated with both Renata Tebaldi and her rival Maria Callas, some may wonder which is the better choice. Well, I'm the wrong person to ask. I own and love both. The Callas recoding has certain intensity as opposed to the polish of this set, and this set is in stereo as opposed to the mono recording of the Callas set. Both sets are masterpieces, but for my tastes, the Tebaldi set is the better choice.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A BUTTERFLY OF VOCAL GOLD, March 9, 1999

By A Customer

This famous recording dates back to the beginning of the stereo era, and in many respects still commands great attention. There have been numerous recorded performances of this opera that have proven more compelling and poignant than this one (most notably those of Callas, Scotto, and Freni), to be sure. This is an opera, of course, which stands or falls by it's prima donna. Tebaldi was never a great tragedienne, and her occasional attempts at real drama never really worked. What she had to offer, however, was a voice that was arguably the most resplendent and beautiful of the post World War II period. It was a voice, that for Butterfly, anyway, was probably a little too large and mature for the fiteen year old giesha she was portraying, especially at the beginning of the opera. Once past this, however, a towering experience awaits the listener as Tebaldi delivers singing which is awesome in its beauty and all-enveloping power. Unfortunately for us, voices like this just aren't around any longer. Carlo Bergonzi's singing is also vocally very beautiful, far more beautiful than the character deserves, louse that Pinkerton is. Fiorenza Cossotto, in the thankless role of the maid Suzuki, contrasts well with Tebaldi in the Flower Duet. The conducting of Tullio Serafin is leisurely, stately, and very much in the old time Italian tradition of Puccini. While not a profound or innovative performance, it remains a wonderful one because it exemplifies a style of Italian opera performance that no longer exists. And lastly, and most importantly, it deserves to be heard and cherished for the sheer beauty of the singing of Renata Tebaldi

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars TEBALDI'S VOCALLY RAVISHING 'BUTTERFLY", December 15, 1999

By	"lesismore26" (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

This 1958 London recording still has a lot going for it. The stereo sound, now having been digitally remastered, sounds fine (save for a little thinness in the upper strings), and at the budget price, it's a real bargin. The performance itself, under the expert direction of Italian opera veteran Tullio Serafin, is serenly paced, without the real urgency and raw drama that might have enhanced it ----- a traditional approach very typical of its time. What makes this recording so valuable is the singing of Renata Tebaldi. The great Italian soprano's voice is heard here in its absolute prime, and what a prime it was! The sheer sound of the voice is so rich, so powerful, and so beautiful that one can hardly imagine the music being sung better (the late critic Claudia Cassidy once likened Tebaldi's voice to "pitchers of pure cream pouring out of a spout"). The interpretation itself is generalized and unspecific, and Tebaldi at no point sounds like the teen-age giesha Puccini envisioned, but how many sopranos (aside from Callas and Scotto) have managed to sound like this anyway? One never looked to Tebaldi for characterization ---- for her, the sheer beauty of singing was the thing ----- and that is something she delivers here in spades with aces to spare. To hear Puccini's music voiced as it is here is something very special ---- truly, one does not hear "Madama Butterfly" sung like this anymore. The Pinkerton of Carlo Bergonzi is much in the same vein -------- beautiful lyric tenor singing, albeit with little real characterization. Ditto for the Suzuki of Fiorenza Cossotto, then at the outset of her international career. The singing is what makes this set so worthy of your attention. If you want a character study, go for Maria Callas or Renata Scotto, both of whom created incredibly tragic gieshas, and each of whom sing very well on their respective recordings, but neither possessed the instrument of Tebaldi, who demonstrates it here in all its grand opulence.