Attending a performance of a Puccini opera is like a game of emotional Russian roulette: it’s beautiful, lush, transcendent… but ultimately you know it will end in someone’s heart being ripped still-beating from their chest. You just hope it’s not yours.

Christchurch audiences are no doubt delighted to be attending this performance of Madama Butterfly in the newly reopened Isaac Theatre Royal. It certainly adds a sense of occasion to an opening night, but even more, the beautiful setting enhances this striking production that NZ Opera staged in 2013 elsewhere in the country. 

As the audience we are knowing witnesses to the inequality of the relationship between Pinkerton and Butterfly. He is an opportunistic foreigner taking advantage of laws which allow him to become an owner for 99 years with the option to exit each month. He applies this to both real estate and women. Butterfly, however, loves Pinkerton and sacrifices her beliefs and her family to be with him in what she considers a true marriage.

The elegant majesty of the set is used to great effect (although a little loud in places!) throughout. The beautiful ‘paper’ doors not only provide an excellent canvas for Matt Scott’s outstanding lighting design, but also act as a kind of cage in which the beautiful Butterfly is trapped. There are some unforgettable visual moments, such as Butterfly waiting for Pinkerton at the end of Act II while Suzuki and Sorrow sleep. The use of the lanterns, and the petals and tinsel that drop from the ceiling also make for some very arresting moments, which beautifully illustrate the text as it is being sung.

NZ Opera has assembled an excellent cast with more than a nod to the South Island’s legacy of producing great vocal talent. Anne Sophie Duprels as Butterfly delivers an outstanding performance which earns her a well deserved ovation for the opera’s most famous aria Un bel dì.

The ‘Flower Duet’ – Il cannone del porto! – performed by Suzuki (Kristin Darragh) and Butterfly is also a highlight. Darragh’s characterisation of the faithful maid Suzuki is appealing in its understated intensity.

Martin Snell is charismatic in his portrayal of Butterfly’s uncle, the Bonze, and his renunciation of Butterfly in Act I is captivating and commanding. Jared Holt as Sharpless convincingly portrays a man caught between custom and compassion. He performs with dignity and restraint.

While the chorus do not have a huge role to play in this opera, they do get to deliver one of the most haunting parts of the piece, Coro a bocca chiusa, the ‘Humming Chorus’. This cleverly composed vigil is beautifully staged and performed. 

The standout performance of the evening is Angus Wood as Pinkerton. He portrays Pinkerton as charismatic but entitled, out to get the best of what he can. From his first entrance he holds the stage and his vocal performance is rich, strong, and exhilarating.

Wood gives us a performance that allows us to understand why Butterfly falls so deeply in love with him, not realising that he does not return or warrant the depth of her loyalty and affection. Their long duet at the end of Act I and Butterfly emerging from the cocoon of her wedding dress is beautiful and entrancing.

Madama Butterfly feels surprisingly modern for an opera that was written over 100 years ago. The clash of cultural values and the price Butterfly pays for her attempt to assimilate to Pinkerton’s world are themes that feel very current. Butterfly is ultimately a fragile commodity pinned to the chest of a navy man like one of his many other medals.   

NZ Opera’s production of Madama Butterfly is satisfying on all levels and deserves the rapturous applause it received from its opening night crowd.

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