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Puccini: Madama Butterfly / Barbirolli, Scotto, Bergonzi


Release Date: 09/17/2002 
Label:  Emi Great Recordings Of The Century Catalog #: 67888   Spars Code: ADD 
Composer:  Giacomo Puccini
Performer:  Silvana Padoan,  Renata Scotto,  Carlo Bergonzi,  Rolando Panerai,   ... 
Conductor:  Sir John Barbirolli
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Rome Opera House Orchestra,  Rome Opera House Chorus
Number of Discs: 2 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 2 Hours 22 Mins. 

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This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.

Notes and Editorial Reviews


For years this has been the benchmark Butterfly (perhaps tied with Callas', but all other things being equal, truly better), and re-hearing it now, it still is. If there is one flaw it is Barbirolli's conducting; he almost loves the score too much, and his lingering occasionally makes you feel that the action lacks impetus. But the upside of that is the gorgeous orchestral detail; it's easy to forget how well orchestrated this opera is, and Barbirolli reminds us.

Elsewhere the performance can't be faulted: Renata Scotto was at the peak of her vocal powers in 1966, with beautiful pianissimos as well as every other dynamic, and a voice whose top had not yet turned acidic. As an Read more interpretation, she gets Butterfly magnificently. She never overdoes the little-girlness, and the pathetic 18-year-old "I-won't-go-back-to-being-a-geisha" monolog never dissolves into tears, but rather ends with a quiet, resigned, and utterly heartrending "Morta!". Even in the final scene she refuses to cheapen with effects; her vocal color and phrasing tell the story perfectly.


Carlo Bergonzi, too, is at his honeyed best, with the voice beautifully produced from top to bottom, and if he misses Gigli's playfulness in Act 1, well, too bad: his last act is ravishing. Rolando Panerai's Sharpless is well-drawn, and he's very effective in the catastrophic second-act conversation with Butterfly. Anna di Stasio sings Suzuki sympathetically, blending well with Scotto in the Flower Duet. The sound is superb. This is a study in sadness that can't be beat. [11/9/2002]
--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com Read less

Works on This Recording

1. Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
Performer:  Silvana Padoan (Mezzo Soprano), Renata Scotto (Soprano), Carlo Bergonzi (Tenor),
Rolando Panerai (Baritone), Anna di Stasio (Mezzo Soprano), Piero de Palma (Tenor),
Giuseppe Morresi (Bass Baritone), Paolo Montarsolo (Bass), Mario Rinaudo (Bass)
Conductor:  Sir John Barbirolli
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Rome Opera House Orchestra,  Rome Opera House Chorus
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1904; Italy 
 Date of Recording: 08/1966 
Venue:  Opera Theater, Rome, Italy 
Length: 142 Minutes 7 Secs. 
Language: Italian 

Sound Samples

Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: E soffitto...e pareti (Pinkerton/Goro)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Questa è la cameriera (Goro/Pinkerton/Suzuki)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Che guardi?...Se non giunge ancor la sposa (Pinkerton/Goro/Sharpless)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Dovunque al mondo (Pinkerton/Goro/Sharpless)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Quale amania vi prende! (Sharpless/Pinkerton)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Ecco! Son giunte al sommo del pendio (Goro/Coro/Butterfly/Sharpless)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Gran ventura (Butterfly/Coro/Pinkerton/Sharpless/Goro)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: L'imperial Commissario (Butterfly/Coro/Pinkerton/Sharpless/Goro)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Vieni, amor mio! (Pinkerton/Butterfly/Goro)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Ieri son salita tutta sola (Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Tutti zitti!...È concesso al nominato (Goro/Il Commissario/Coro/Butterfly/Pinkerton/Sharpless/L'Ufficiale del Registro)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Ed eccoci in famigila (Pinkerton/Coro/Il Bonzo/Butterfly/Goro)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Bimba, bimba non piangere (Pinkerton/Coro/Butterfly/Goro)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Viene la sera (Pinkerton/Butterfly/Suzuki)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Quest'obi pomposa (Butterfly/Pinkerton)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia (Butterfly/Pinkerton)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Vogliatemi bene, un bene piccolino (Butterfly/Pinkerton)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Vieni, vieni...Via dall'anima in pena (Butterfly/Pinkerton)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: E izaghi e Izanami (Suzuki/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Suzuki...È lungi la miseria? (Suzuki/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Un bel di vedremo (Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: C'è Entrate (Goro/Sharpless/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Ah sì. Goro, appena B.F. Pinkerton fu in mare (Butterfly/Goro/Yamadori/Sharpless)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Si sa che aprir la porta (Butterfly/Goro/Yamadori/Sharpless)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Ora a noi (Sharpless/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Qui troncarla conviene (Sharpless/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: E questo? e questo? (Sharpless/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Che tua madre dovrà (Sharpless/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Io scendo al piano (Sharpless/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Vespa! Rospo maledetto! (Suzuki/Butterfly/Goro)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Una nave da guerra (Suzuki/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Scuoti quella fronda di ciliegio (Suzuki/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Or vienmi ad adornar (Suzuki/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, First Part: Coro a bocca chiusa/Humming Chorus
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Introduzione (Orchestra/Voci dei marinai)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Già il sole! (Suzuki/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Chi sia?...Zitta! Zitta! (Suzuki/Pinkerton/Sharpless)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Io so che alle sue pene (Suzuki/Pinkerton/Sharpless)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Addio, fiorito asil (Pinkerton/Sharpless)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Gllielo dirai? (Kate/Suzuki/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Tu, Suzuki, che sei tanto buona (Butterly/Suzuki/Sharpless/Kate)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Come una mosca prigioniera (Suzuki/Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly (2002 Digital Remaster), Act 2, Second Part: Con onor muore (Butterfly/Pinkerton)

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