Missing the cherry blossoms

Amal Choucri Catta follows a colourless butterfly

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Madama Butterfly, three-act opera by Giacomo Puccini presented by Cairo Opera Company; director Ludek Golat; Opera Orchestra, conductor Nader Abbassi and Opera Choir, director Aldo Magnato. Venue: Main Hall COH, 27 to 30 January 8pm.

Giacomo Puccini's relationship with critics, peers and audiences fluctuated sharply during his lifetime; only in recent years has the evolution of his style become fully appreciated, and he stands today as one of the most talented Italian opera composers of his time. Born in 1858 to a family of musicians, he died in 1924 leaving 12 operas, seven of which bear the name of the heroine. Among his four, most popular operas, La Bohème, Tosca, Turandot and Madama Butterfly, Cairo Opera's management decided to produce the latter, the three others already featuring in Cairo's repertoire. Presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute at the Opera's Main Hall, from 27 to 30 January, Madama Butterfly featured Japanese soprano Mitsuko Mori and Egyptian Iman Mustafa respectively in the title role.

Butterfly opened on a somewhat cheerless stage, rather destitute of sets, with the circle of the Japanese red sun illuminating a blue horizon on the backdrop, while different catwalks led to three large sliding panels symbolically separating a non-existant landscape at the back -- which likewise symbolically represented Pinkerton's newly acquired house. A huge, coiled-up white curtain, hovering like a menacing cloud over the entire stage, though somewhat disconcerting at the start, turned out to be quite interesting at the very end of the drama. Two or three wicker chairs and a small table were the only sets in the empty house. Emptiness is typical for Japanese traditional flats, where tea and other ceremonies take place on floor mats. Yet, this should not have stopped Moravian director Ludek Golat from making better use of the entire stage, instead of limiting the action to the back and leaving the huge, empty front solely to the four-star performers. Thus, in Act One, Cio- Cio-San, the heroine, enters from the back, after having sung her way through the catwalks, until finally reaching the panels making up the sliding doors of the house she was to live in. The same goes for her family and friends making up the choir they have been permitted on front stage, instead of having to stop at the sliding panels. Likewise Pinkerton and Sharpless, Suzuki and Goro, Bonzo and the Imperial Commissioner, as well as prince Yamadori and, in the last scene, even the American Kate Pinkerton enters from the back, after having stood motionless for some time on the farthest catwalk. Needless to say, action at the back of the stage was livelier than out front in Butterfly's flat which was, furthermore, devoid of any flower arrangement: where had all the Japanese cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums gone? Where the Ikebana and other celebrated floral assortments, and where the bamboo?

The action of Puccini's three-act opera takes place in the early 20th century, above Nagasaki harbour. United states Navy Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton has just leased a house from Goro, the marriage broker, who has likewise procured him with servants and a Geisha-wife, Cio-Cio- San, known as Madama Butterfly. Pinkerton, a carefree seaman, who has never stopped roaming the oceans, enjoying a different girl in every port, enters through the sliding panels with his friend Sharpless, the American consul. He is enchanted with his Japanese bride, though his nine-year marriage contract contains a monthly renewal option for which he, somehow, does not seem to care. He does not really intend to take Cio-Cio-San seriously. Back in the States, he will finally marry an American girl, he tells Sharpless. In the meantime, Butterfly appears in a lovely kimono, accompanied by her family and friends, joyously singing Spira Sul Mar. The Imperial Commissioner performs the wedding ceremony, while the bride's uncle, Bonzo, a Buddhist priest, bursts in, cursing Butterfly for having renounced her ancestors' religion. Pinkerton sends everybody away and, alone with Cio-Cio-San, they sing the lovely duet Bimba, non piangere. On opening night Mitsuko Mori came as a fascinating surprise -- her voice was clear, her pitches splendid, her performance thrilling. She is a newcomer to Cairo's Opera House and a perfect choice for the demanding role of Cio-Cio-San. Born in Hiroshima where she studied music and was awarded a scholarship in 1993, she pursued her higher musical studies in Rome and New York. Mori won several first prizes at international competitions and performed a number of main roles in different operas, among which Madama Butterfly in Europe and the Americas.

Italian tenor Francesco Anile was quite convincing in the role of Pinkerton: his presence on stage is impressive and his pure timbre quite alluring. Italian baritone Alfio Grasso graced the stage in the role of Sharpless only for opening night, while mezzo-soprano Hala El- Shaboury was quite perfect as Suzuki the maid. Tenor Tamer Tewfik sang a vivacious Goro, while bass-baritone Reda El-Wakil was a delightful Bonzo. Sparkling soprano Nashwa Ibrahim was cast as Kate Pinkerton while baritone Emad Adel sang the brief part of the Imperial Commissioner and Ibrahim Nagui was an impressive Prince Yamadori.

Audiences were happy to see Nader Abbassi conducting the Cairo Opera Orchestra -- he has been missed the past weeks while his orchestra was conducted by Nayer Nagui and Taha Nagui -- when he appeared on opening night at the head of his instrumentalists. Abbassi gave the public brilliantly performed music, filled with passion and moments of moving melodies, such as Cio-Cio-San's aria Un Bel di Vedremo of the second act; there was joy and tenderness as she sang for Pinkerton's hoped-for return. The American had left her shortly after the wedding, three years ago, in the course of which Butterfly had given life to a son, Dolore. Sharpless, who had come to see her, did not have the heart to read her a letter from Pinkerton saying he now had an American wife. That was when the harbour-cannon sounded, announcing the arrival of a ship. Delirious with happiness Cio-Cio-San asked Suzuki to help her fill the house with flowers -- which, unfortunately, did not happen on stage. As night fell, Butterfly and Suzuki started their vigil, while in the distance the choir chanted the remarkable Humming-Chorus and the audience sank into a mood of dismal sorrow. Choir master Aldo Magnato, having, as usual, done a great job, the choir was lovely on opening night, though the Humming-Chorus, exaggeratedly pianissimo, was hardly audible. As one of Puccini's most alluring melodies, it would have deserved to be better enjoyed by audiences who had, to a large extent, never seen Madama Butterfly prior to last week's performances. Opening with an orchestral introduction, Act Three reveals the busy harbour as backdrop: the lanterns that had been swaying to the music behind the white coiled-up curtain in the delirious scene of Act Two, are lowered, while the vision of the harbour is replaced by the backdrop of Act One. The omen is fatal as Sharpless and Pinkerton, followed by Kate, the American wife, appear on the farthest catwalk and Suzuki, in despair, agrees to break the sad news to Butterfly who finally decides to give up her son to his father. Pinkerton, however, being the coward he is, leaves the scene without seeing Cio-Cio- San, who finds Kate instead. In the end, Butterfly sends everyone away and as the stage darkens, the white curtain suddenly unfolds, separating backstage from the front and dropping dried petals while Cio-Cio-San chooses to die in honor rather than to live in disgrace. She stabs herself with her father's dagger and as she drops to her death, Pinkerton's voice is heard from afar, calling her name. It is too late: the curtain falls as the audience starts to cheer.