Puccini - Madam Butterfly / Cheryl Barker, PO, Yves Abel [in English]

Giacomo Puccini (Artist), Yves Abel (Artist), Cheryl Barker (Artist), Paul Charles Clarke (Artist), Simon Birchall (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 20, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B00005QF3K
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #329,258 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This performance, the only one available in English, is problematic. Best is Yves Abel's leadership of the orchestra, which sounds wonderful, imbuing Puccini's lush score with just the right exoticism and emphasis. But aside from Gregory Yurisch's fine Sharpless, the singers don't please. Paul Charles Clarke as Pinkerton is lacking stylistically and vocally, and as Butterfly, Cheryl Barker sounds under strain and never pretty. While she has the power and feeling for the big second-act climax (the sighting of the ship), she never for a moment sounds fragile or girlish, not even in the all-important early scenes. English or not, this set isn't in the running. Stick with Callas or Scotto in Italian, and follow the libretto. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Enjoyable, May 1, 2008

By	Robert Elmasian (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I did not think I would enjoy or play this Butterfly as much as I have. Somehow operas sung in English, even those originally composed in English, seem a little bit silly compared to those sung in Italian, French, and German and even Czech and Russian. Butterfly, however, transfers well to English. Just two years after its 1904 premier, the libretto was translated into English and performed with much success, particularly in the United States. After several years, however, the use of an English libretto stopped and this Butterfly is the only commercial recording currently available.

Any performance of Butterfly is critically dependent on the excellence of its title character, and Australian soprano Cheryl Barker is up to the task. She has improved her technique over the years, and, with little doubt, is underrated by those who have failed to adjust opinions fixed some time ago. The Amazon editorial review by Robert Levine is quite correct in saying that Barker sounds under strain in this recording but quite incorrect in saying that she never sounds pretty. In fact, she mostly sings very well and sounds very pretty indeed. However, there are some moments, particularly when Butterfly herself is under strain, in which Barker's voice becomes harsh. The most critical of these times is in the final aria, just before Butterfly's suicide. Barker can and has sung this aria superbly; unfortunately, she does not do it here.

The final aria is the dramatic peak of Madama Butterfly, and I suspect that Barker's lapse in it may have colored Mr. Levine's opinion of the whole recording. Overall, however, Barker's performance is very moving and more than good enough to give English speaking lovers of Madama Butterfly an understanding of the opera that otherwise might be lost in translation.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A touching English Butterfly, March 26, 2002

By	Ed Beveridge (London, England) - See all my reviews

Anyone familiar with Cheryl Barker's Butterfly will be interested in hearing this recording. I have heard her in the role twice - in Auckland and London - and her voice has filled out as the years have gone on. She hasn't a large italianate soprano; the sound is too slender somehow. Yet there is the paradox - it has great carrying power and a decent cutting edge to make itself heard above the orchestral climaxes. What really impresses is the sense of vulnerability and moral strength she imparts, making sense of the big moments of the secong act. The sound in Act one is gorgeous (and a super D flat in theentrance aria) and she differentiates impressively between the child-bride and the embittered woman of the two acts.

She is surrounded by a mixed supporting cast. Jean Rigby is maternal, warm and affecting as Suzuki. Gregory Yurisich makes Sharpless' dilemma more understandable than usual, rather than being completely ineffectual. Paul Charles Clarke perhaps illustrates Pinkerton's arrogance with a degree of vocal swagger, but the sound is rough-hewn and unlovely save for some moments in the love duet. Stuart Kale's Goro is suitable ingratiating and oily.

Abel's conducting is the other chief draw of this set. That he has experience of the score in the theatre means that his pacing is really superb, and the lush orchestration is given its due, the potent intermezzo during the overnight vigil sounding suitably ominous.

This won't replace the classic Butterfly recordings, but in the absendce of any new ones recently, and for acceptable diction in an English version, it is certainly worth the (not very high) price. Recommended.