Word: puccini
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...opera is a repertory staple in Italy. Composer Cilèa (pronounced che-lay-ah) wrote it when he was 35, and it established his reputation. He coasted on it from its premiere in 1902 until his death in 1950. It is a respectable enough opera, reminiscent of Puccini in its throbbing arias and duets and in its yearning strings. It even has a predictably pathetic ending, in which the heroine is punished for the crime of having fallen in love...
...still attracting a lot of attention; but it's still not worth buying. Sir Adrian chose Miss Joan Sutherland as his soprano soloist, and it was a noble choice, but, unfortunately, Sir Adrian is a man who thinks that Miss Sutherland can only sing well when she is singing Puccini (a palpable falsehood). Consequently, Sir A. has ripped Handel's oratorio untimely from its century, making it as operatic Victorian as he possibly can. The result is an orchestra sprawling and unkempt, singers bawling and dyspeptic, and tempi crawling and inept. (London A-4357--you'll recognize the album...
...second-act Flower Duet culminates in an inspired bit of flower-arranging rather than in the usual mess of pink petals strewn about the stage; best of all, the cast is almost entirely Japanese. We are, as I said, almost convinced that Madama Butterfly is really about Japan-but Puccini's music spoils the illusion. Strip away the evocations of the inscrutable Orient-pentatonic scales, xylophones and chimes-and you discover the same handful of juicy, sentimental arias and duets that constitute the enduring appeal of all of Puccini's operas. It's Le Boheme again, and only a little...
Sarah Caldwell's direction of the excellent orchestra seemed a bit lethargic, and on the whole, this Butterfly offered for Puccini's heady brew a rather weak...
...were able to sleep, notably Saxophonist Joel Kaye, who at 140 lbs. is small enough to slip into the overhead luggage rack. A couple of other bandsmen listened over individual earphones to the tape recorder that Kenton had installed at the start of the tour. Favorite listening: Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Puccini...