The opera of Puccini at the opera of Marseille
Marseille, Municipal Opera, season 2015/2016
“MADAMA BUTTERFLY”
Opera in 3 acts, libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, after David Belasco’s play
Giacomo Puccini Music
Cio-Cio San SVETLA VASSILEVA
Suzuki CORNELIA ONCIOIU
kate Pinkerton JENNIFER MICHEL
Pinkerton TEODOR ILINCAI
Sharpless PAULO SZOT
Goro RODOLPHE BRIAND
The Bonze JEAN-MARIE DELPAS
Yamadori CAMILLE TRESMONTANT
The Imperial Commissioner MIKHAEL PICCONE
Registrar FREDERIC LEROY
Pain MELIS BASILE
Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra de Marseille
Musical direction Nader Abassi
Choirmaster Emmanuel Trenque
Directed by Numa Sadoul
Luc Londiveau sets
Katia Duflot Costumes
Philippe Mombellet lights
Marseille, March 16, 2016
By presenting the masterpiece of Giacomo Puccini “Madame Butterfly”, the Marseille Opera is guaranteed to provide great musical emotions to a public in Marseille always at the rendezvous. Yet this opera, which Puccini considered the most sincere and the most expressive, was a resounding failure during the first performance at La Scala in Milan on February 17, 1904. The new dramatic and musical perspectives presented by the composer do not please and trigger even laughs and heckling. Puccini goes back to work with his librettists and remakes his opera. Initially conceived in two acts, it will be, after some cuts, presented in three acts. Donated to Brescia on May 28, 1904, “Madama Butterfly” immediately achieves a huge success that has never been denied. Puccini’s musical writing is here an extraordinary blend of Western traditional composition with some touches of exoticism or American hymn, which give this impression of authenticity. It is a sincere music that sticks to the story and the text of which the right words mark emotionally. This music made of colored keys in oppositions, is undoubtedly a marvel of accuracy and inventiveness. The production presented to us tonight is a recovery already given at the Opéra de Marseille in 2004 and 2007 and more recently at the Toulon Opera. Numa Sadoul is the director. Remaining close to the booklet, it brings us into the intimacy of a Japanese house where the dignity and integrity of feelings replace opulence. A unique setting, a small fisherman’s house with straw roof, near the sea, reinforces the tension contained in this intimate drama where the game of feelings is the major element of the opera. And here everything is right, expressions with gestures, with movements, without sentimentality, but with a lot of finesse. Numa Sadoul has done a remarkable job of directing actors, introducing children’s games that bring a certain movement into this minimalist decor. It makes Pinkerton a marine lieutenant a little borrowed and without great charisma, playing on the physical and age of the singer, in opposition to a consul whose humanity and class undeniable contrast with the casualness of the young American. Using the look of a Butterfly truer than life, whose mobility and natural grace enchant the eye, he offers us images of intense emotion, helped by the lighting. Pretty ideas too, such as the arrival of Cio-Cio San under a canopy of white cloth. This production, which may seem outdated, has not aged, even being timeless, as the colors that go from the blue of the sky or the sea, to the bistre of the house and the junk are reminiscent of certain prints. The lights set by Philippe Mombellet play the director’s game by creating images where everything is suggested more than imposed, in harmony with the Japanese culture while restraint, with indirect or grazing lights, obscure light, clear light. moon or white lights on sunny days. Luc Londiveau was able to create an old-fashioned decor: a small wooden house, a junk where the newlyweds spend their wedding night, a pontoon on the sea from where Cio-Cio San scrutinize the arrival of ships. The costumes of Katia Duflot blend in this atmosphere of dignity with past shades for Japanese kimonos or colors more assertive for those of men. The kimono of Cio-Cio San, respects the white of traditional weddings in Japan, with long sleeves that float like the wings of a butterfly. Sharpless’s understated costume is a replica of Kate Pinkerton’s elegant dress; the uniform of the navy lieutenant remaining white. Nothing, not even the appearance of the all-white Bonze too, will change this heavy atmosphere, where the drama remains interior, simply felt by the oppositions of nuances and rhythms.More than in “La Bohème” or “Tosca”, Puccini’s genius bursts forth in every note written for solo instruments, or piani attacks of singers. Svetla Vassileva is that naive young girl who, believing in the integrity of the feelings of the Westerners, renounces her beliefs and traditions out of love and loyalty for her handsome officer. Physically she is Cio-Cio San. Adapting gestures and attitudes to situations without any affectation, it is of great credibility. If vocally we can blame him for those strong pushes that bring out a wide vibrato and make his treble strident, his voice is, however, very melodious in piani. The round, warm and colorful medium is sung with excellent diction and good projection. With feelings that express themselves on the edge of voice and beautiful pianissimi on the breath, Svetla Vassileva sings with much more flexibility while making us hear beautiful nuances. It alternates charm, sweetness, temperament and anger with the same naturalness and shows great musicality in duets. Perfect in its interpretation, we will remember a Cio-Cio San, touching until his death, practicing Seppuku, traditionally reserved for men, facing the sea where it collapses as nailed to a mast like a butterfly. It’s a strong image, and Pinkerton’s call, unanswered, will resonate long in our ears. Cornelia Oncioiu plays here Suzuki for his first invitation on the Marseilles stage. If this Romanian mezzo-soprano did not totally convinced us last month at the Toulon Opera in “Pelleas and Melisande”, while she played the role of Genevieve, she seems here much more at ease. Certainly the Italian writing suits him better than that of Claude Debussy. Possessing a wide voice with a colorful tone, Cornelia Oncioiu allows brilliant highs and warm on a beautiful length of breath. If his voice would ask to be a little more projected in the bass, it is nevertheless of a great homogeneity, which allows him to keep his color in each register. Cornelia Oncioiu, delivers us here a scenically perfect Suzuki, which knows to pass the emotion contained in its voice; the pair of flowers with Cio-Cio San, will be of great dramatic intensity. Jennifer Michel is a Kate Pinkerton who feels human in her short sentences sung with a lot of musicality. Teodor Ilincai is that Pinkerton, by whom misfortune comes. More inconsistent than arrogant, this young casual naval lieutenant, who does not measure the scope of his actions, has the voice that corresponds to his physique. He is a valiant tenor with sure, projected and sonorous highs. In 2014, while he played Alfredo (La Traviata) on the same stage, we criticized him for his lack of legato. If the voice has relaxed since then, it still has a little stiffness in the expression. It will be necessary to wait for the last act so that the emotion is felt. His voice, like that of Svetla Vassileva, is much more musical in the piano, when the timbre rounds off. Beautiful duets with Cio-Cio San, but also with Sharpless sung in a colorful medium. This is a realistic interpretation for a very believable Pinkerton. Paulo Szot, the baritone we loved in “Eugène Onegin” presented in Marseilles in 2004, moved us to tears in his performance of Donato in “Maria Golovine”, Gian Carlo’s opera. Menotti, played in 2006 in the presence of the composer. It will be Sharpless tonight. Often interpreted without great character, this role here takes on an unexpected dimension; indeed, with the voice and intelligence of the Brazilian baritone, Sharpless, becomes a key role around which articulate the different scenes. With a subtlety of intentions and great accuracy of expression, Paulo Szot humanizes the character against a Pinkerton without much consistency. A choice of the director who hits the mark and sheds new light on certain aspects of the work. This psychological search of the characters will largely make the success of this representation. Vocally Paulo Szot is in great shape. We appreciate the velvety sound of his deep voice and his homogeneity. The musicality of the phrasing is perceived in each intervention but also in each gesture as they are made respecting the music and its breaths. Long remembered on Broadway, he takes the roads of the opera and we hope we can applaud again very quickly in Marseille, as we are seduced by his play and the accuracy of his singing. Goro, is another role of second-rate played with imagination. Rodolphe Briand makes a real character, colorful without exaggeration that animates the scene with subtlety. Vocally in place, his tenor voice is heard with accuracy and expressiveness. In both “Manon” and “Madama Butterfly”, Rodolphe Briand always gives us compositional roles of great finesse. Jean-Marie Delpas, very comfortable in his performances here embodies a disturbing Bonze whose well-placed baritone voice sounds like a threat. Camille Tresmontant and Mikhael Piccone, respectively Yamadori and the Imperial Commissioner, fully in place vocally are at the height of this homogeneous plateau. the choir of the Marseilles Opera well prepared by Emmanuel Trenque, marries this staging by the game and the emission of the voices. The “Cio-Cio San” full of reproaches, sung by women who resonate into the distance, amplify the tension created by the arrival of the Bonze. We will not forget the beautiful performance of the young Bazile Mélis, in the touching performance of Pain, the son of Cio-Cio San. Nader Abassi, was at the head of the orchestra of the Marseille Opera. This Egyptian chef, always appreciated by the public and the musicians, gives us here his perception of “Madama Butterfly”. With the broad and elegant gestures that we know him, he brings out the oppositions of nuances, essential in this work. If the conductor uses tempi vives to make Cio-Cio San feel worried and excited, he also knows how to alternate rhythms and phrasing as soon as feelings change. It’s an expressive “Madama Butterfly”, both on the stage and in the pit, and if the orchestra is a little too loud, it never covers the voices. the dramatic tension goes through the conductor before reaching the audience with full force. This representation closest to the text, has touched an audience often on the verge of tears; an emotion that results in a burst of applause.
