Puccini: Madama Butterfly / Molajoli, Pampanini, Et Al

Notes and Editorial Reviews

PUCCINI Madama Butterfly • Lorenzo Molajoli, cond; Rosetta Pampanini ( Butterfly ); Conchita Velasquez ( Suzuki ); Alessandro Granda ( Pinkerton ); Gino Vanelli ( Sharpless ); Giuseppe Nessi ( Goro ); Aristide Baracchi ( Yamadori ); La Scala Op O & Ch Read more • CENTAUR 2196/97, mono (2 CDs: 113:20)

This famous 1928 recording, often tossed to the side in favor of better-sounding versions from later eras (including the dal Monte-Gigli recording made 11 years later), is one of the most fascinating, vibrant, and highly musical readings of this oft-maligned score. It was part of the massive set of complete and abridged operas recorded during 1927–34 by then-rival companies HMV and Columbia using the forces and singers of Toscanini’s La Scala Opera (plus a couple, on Columbia, from Bayreuth)—all, in fact, save Toscanini himself, who for whatever reasons declined to participate in a single one of them, even when they were productions he had mounted. This Butterfly is one such, replicating in many roles (Butterfly, Pinkerton, Goro, the Bonze, and possibly Yamadori) his justly famed 1925 revival of the opera. The soloists, orchestra, and chorus still had remnants of the style he imparted to them in their blood, but the recording is led by Lorenzo Molajoli, an experienced conductor as old as Toscanini himself but one with some different ideas on phrasing. One such, which is a drawback to this Butterfly as well as several other operas in the series, is his heavy use of string portamento—sometimes just slightly noticeable, at other times highly annoying. Another drawback is the excessively dry, claustrophobic sound, a characteristic of the Columbia series but not of the HMV.

So what, then, makes this recording so valuable? Several things, and despite the overuse of portamento the conducting is one of them. Despite Molajoli’s penchant for this older style, in many other respects his conducting, much more so than that of his rival Carlo Sabajno at HMV, closely resembles Toscanini’s, not only in his quicker tempos (Sabajno was often very fast as well—that was simply the way with those older conductors) but in replicating to a greater degree Toscanini’s phrasing and orchestral clarity. So often in his recordings, despite their dated, boxy sound, one hears winds coming sharply through the string sound, which gives the music an entirely different color. Moreover, Molajoli comes closer to Toscanini’s actual way of phrasing, in which notes are held for just exactly their time-length yet each note is imbued with life and drama, which gives the music a slightly edgy quality. In this performance you can hear this in several places, most notably in the incredibly tense string tremolos, with bass and cello pizzicato, leading up to the entrance of Butterfly and the repeated drum beats at the beginning of “Va, fagli compagnia,” followed by the sharp accents and strict timing of the support to “Tu, tu piccolo iddio!” One can also hear it in the singing, particularly Rosetta Pampanini’s strict adherence to the proper tempo and phrasing of the oft-maligned “Un bel dì,” were she holds the high notes for just as long as the score directs and no more. If there were any modern recordings that featured such good singing combined with such faithfulness to the score, this version would indeed be just a curio, but since there are none it occupies a unique position.

In addition to all this there is Pampanini’s fascinating interpretation of the title role. No Butterfly since, to my mind, has so perfectly captured the character’s sweetness and innocence in the first two acts nearly as well without lapsing into infantile sucrose, as dal Monte did, or arch coyness, as Leontyne Price did. Much of this is due to the unique quality of Pampanini’s voice, which combined tensile strength with a tone that was both sweet and somewhat metallic; Price’s misfires occurred simply because she could not re-color her voice in the “youthful” passages to match her dramatic intent. It’s also interesting to hear, as the booklet describes them, the “excited and rapturous sounds” she interjects throughout the first act. Surely Toscanini would not have allowed these? Possibly so. Alexander Kipnis attested to the fact that Toscanini did not hamper an artist’s interpretation, even if he disagreed with it, as long as the singer adhered to the rhythm properly, and Pampanini certainly did that.

As for the other interpretations on this set, Gino Vanelli delivers a fine, empathetic Sharpless, Alessandro Granda a well-sung Pinkerton despite a slight nasality of tone, and Giuseppe Nessi, who could sing very well when called upon (hear his excellent Beppe in the 1930 Pagliacci ), makes his voice sound old and quivery for marriage broker Goro. There’s a bit of luxury casting here as Salvatore Baccaloni sings the few lines of the Bonze with his firm, plummy tone. Conchita Velasquez is a delightful surprise, a youthful (only 23 at the time and fresh from her La Scala debut) and charming Suzuki whose voice and perky acting complement Pampanini perfectly. The string portamento is particularly noticeable, and annoying, in the last 10 minutes of act II, leading up to the humming chorus, but the latter is exceptionally well done for its time. Centaur has transferred the original 78s using fine original copies and good needles that fit the grooves well (the latter always a headache in 78s of this vintage), though they also left all the ticks and pops in, didn’t clean up some of the residual 78 whoosh, and failed to sweeten the dead sound with even minimal reverb as other labels (notably Preiser) have done with some of the Molajoli sets, but this is still an indispensable set to own if you enjoy this opera.

FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley
Read less

Works on This Recording

1. Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini

Performer: Alessandro Granda (Tenor), Gino Vanelli (Baritone), Salvatore Baccaloni (Bass),
Giuseppe Nessi (Tenor), Cesira Ferrari (Mezzo Soprano), Conchita Velasquez (Mezzo Soprano),
Lino Binardi (Baritone), Rosetta Pampanini (Soprano), Aristide Baracchi (Baritone)
Conductor: Lorenzo Molajoli
Orchestra/Ensemble: Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus
Period: Romantic
Written: 1904; Italy
Date of Recording: 1928
Length: 113 Minutes 20 Secs.
Language: Italian

Customer Reviews

Be the first to review this title

Review This Title

Featured Popular Composers

Featured Popular Conductors

Featured Popular Performers

Featured Popular Ensembles

Featured Popular Labels

Puccini: Madama Butterfly / Molajoli, Pampanini, Et Al

Notes and Editorial Reviews

Works on This Recording

Customer Reviews