Madame Butterfly

Mako Nishimoto and Dante Alcalá

Featuring:

Mako Mishimoto, soprano

Dante Alcalá, tenor

Camille Lopez-Molina, soprano

Andrew Fernando, baritone

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Lim Yau, conductor

The year 2012 is truly on its way to becoming a banner year for opera in the Philippines as Madame Butterfly had a successful two night performance at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Japanese soprano Mako Nishimoto, Mexican tenor Dante Alcalá with local prides baritone Andrew Fernando and soprano Camille Lopez-Molina were showered with praises and an extended standing ovation from the audience during this very limited engagement presented by MusicArtes, Inc. and the CCP. This staging of Madame Butterfly, last seen in Manila since 1994, was directed by Dr. Anton Juan with music direction by Maestro Francisco Feliciano while Maestro Lim Yau conducted the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

The audience who flocked to the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) was treated to a stylized and an unconventional version of Madame Butterfly compared to the more traditional and straightforward staging of La Traviata months before. Right from the start, the beating of the taiko drums instead of the usual strings of the orchestral prelude signaled that this Madame Butterfly would not be the typical one. This prologue also indicated that this story was told from the perspective of a child, the one that was borne out of ill-fated romance of the lead characters, Cio-Cio San (Mako Nishimoto) and B.F. Pinkerton (Dante Alcalá). The images projected on stage, depicting scenes from World War II also showed that the time was moved a few decades forward. From the start of the 20^th century, the story now took place in the 1940’s as World War II was about to explode.

Soprano Mako Nishimoto

One thing that didn’t change was Giacomo Puccini’s immortal music: sweeping and romantic, piercing right through the soul to the point that knowledge of the Italian libretto was no longer necessary to understand the tale. Those who didn’t know Italian were aided by superscripts but even without them, Nishimoto and Alcalá along with the rest of the cast were able to tell the story via their voices and body language. And speaking of body language, Nishimoto’s Cio-Cio San embodied through her movement the change in her character as she embraced the American ideals and lifestyle during Act II. Her Cio-Cio San, decked in 1940’s style American dress, moved with a sense of abandonment, confidence and with a dash of liberation. This take on Cio-Cio San made her signature aria, Un bel di a lot more interesting. This was a stark contrast from Act I when she moved with a lot more restraint, refinement and symmetry as her weight was distributed equally on both legs. She eventually returned to this manner during Act III when she wished that Pinkerton would see her as she was during their wedding day.

Tenor Dante Alcalá

But while some of the changes worked, there were some that left me a bit perplexed. The Coro a bocca chiusa or the Humming Chorus and the subsequent orchestral piece that connected Acts II and III was accompanied by a dream sequence. This sequence featured a butoh dance number that had the cast wearing costumes that glowed in the dark designed by Leeroy New. The effect of the UV light on the strange and alien-like fluorescent additions to the costumes was very interesting but I couldn’t unite it with the overall look and feel of the opera. I found it jarring and not a seamless fit with the already stylized set design. Some people might think that this sequence was a stroke of genius while others might find it a lame attempt to be spectacular. Whether people loved it or hated it, one thing is for sure, people talked about this sequence.

Nonon Baang, George Wildsmith and Fame Flores

Too bad that I was only able to see the opening night of Madame Butterfly compared to La Traviata that I was able to see thrice. But after the final show I was still able to rush to the CCP after covering another event and joined the rest of the cast and production staff during the after show cocktails. I find it very rewarding to meet and interact with the performers and the people behind the production. I find it stimulating whenever I am given the chance to discuss with them the production and their performances, to tell them what my observations were and how the whole experience affected me. It was a delight having an opportunity to practice my Italian with Dante Alcalá and basically hang out with Nonon Baang (Yamadori), and the rest of the cast as well. Finally after many years, I’ve had my Puccini fix via Madame Butterfly. Now it’s time to prepare for some Rossini as the next opera will be The Barber of Seville coming very, very soon.