Puccini: Madama Butterfly Mirella Freni

• Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): Madama Butterfly, Act 1
• 1... E soffitto e pareti02:55
• 2Sorride Vostro Onore?03:30
• 3Dovunque al mondo02:59
• 4America For Ever02:34
• 5Ier l'altro il Consolato02:09
• 6Ecco. Son giunte al sommo del pendio03:43
• 7Gran ventura03:52
• 8L'Imperial Commissario03:32
• 9Vieni, amor mio!02:51
• 10Ieri son salita tutta sola in segreto alla Missione02:15
• 11Tutti zitti!03:11
• 12O Kami! O Kami!00:36
• 13Cio-cio-san! Cio-cio-san!02:44
• 14Bimba, bimba, non piangere02:20
• 15Viene la sera07:32
• 16Vogliatemi bene07:59
• 17E Izaghi ed Izanami, Sarundasico e Kami07:36
• 18Un bel dì vedremo04:39
• Madama Butterfly, Act 2
• 19C'è. Entrate06:41
• 20Si sa che aprir la parta01:04
• 21Udiste?02:00
• 22Ora a noi. Sedete qui.02:56
• 23Ebbene, che fareste, Madama Butterfly?02:53
• 24E questo? E questo?02:27
• 25Che tua madre dovrà prenderti in braccio05:18
• 26Vespa! Rospo maledetto!02:01
• 27Una nave da guerra02:45
• 28Scuoti quella fronda di ciliegio05:39
• 29Or vienmi ad adornar05:34
• 30Coro a bocca chiusa (Humming Chorus)03:04
• 31Intermezzo06:16
• 32Fischi d'uccelli dal giardino01:49
• 33Già il sole!02:32
• 34Chi sia?02:33
• 35Io so che alle pene02:10
• 36Non ve l'avevo detto?01:54
• 37Addio fiorito asil03:10
• 38Suzuki! Suzuki! Dove sei?01:56
• 39Tu, Suzuki, che sei tanto biona05:45
• 40Come una mosca prigionera02:44
• 41Con onor muore chi non può serbar vita con onore05:32
• Total Runtime02:25:40

Info for Puccini: Madama Butterfly

Since Madama Butterfly has more stage time than other sopranos, it is imperative that the singing actress captures extensive dramatic variety in addition to singing with exquisite tone and an affinity to Puccini. Mirella Freni, one of the greatest recorded Butterfly's of all time, succeeds at these demands with vocal sensitivity and eloquence. She is assisted by Karajan's superb, symphonic conducting, crisply and poignantly realizing all of Puccini's vast moods; Ludwig's urgent, loving and tenderly sung Suzuki; and Pavarotti's endearing and almost likeable Pinkerton. In addition, the Pavarotti-Freni duets are nectars of the gods. Get out the tissues and indulge.

“In every way except one the transfer of Karajan's radiant Vienna recording for Decca could hardly provide a firmer recommendation. The reservation is one of price – this Karajan is on three discs, not two, at full price. However it does allow each act to be self-contained on a single disc, and for such a performance as this no extravagance is too much. Movingly dramatic as Renata Scotto is on the Barbirolli set, Mirella Freni is even more compelling. The voice is fresher, firmer and more girlish, with more light and shade at such points as 'Un bel dì', and there's an element of vulnerability that intensifies the communication. In that, one imagines Karajan played a big part, just as he must have done in presenting Pavarotti – not quite the super-star he is today but already with a will of his own in the recording studio – as a Pinkerton of exceptional subtlety, not just a roistering cad but in his way an endearing figure in the First Act.

Significantly CD brings out the delicacy of the vocal balances in Act 1 with the voices deliberately distanced for much of the time, making such passages as 'Vienna la sera' and 'Bimba dagli occhi' the more magical in their delicacy. Karajan, in that duet and later in the Flower duet of Act 2, draws ravishing playing from the Vienna Philharmonic strings, getting them to imitate the portamento of the singers in an echt-Viennes manner, which is ravishing to the ear. Christa Ludwig is by far the richest and most compelling of Suzukis.” (Gramophone)

“he inspires singers and orchestra to a radiant performance which brings out all the beauty and intensity in Puccini's score, sweet but not sentimental, powerfully dramatic but not vulgar. Freni is an enchanting Butterfly, constantly growing in stature...Pavarotti is an intensely imaginative Pinkerton” (The Penguin Guide)

Mirella Freni, soprano (Butterfly)
Luciano Pavarotti, tenor (Pinkterton)
Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano (Suzuki)
Robert Kerns, baritone (Sharpless)
Vienna State Opera Chorus
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Digitally remastered

No biography found.

Booklet for Puccini: Madama Butterfly