Puccini: Madam Butterfly (1990)

While there have been Butterflies more vulnerable -- de Los Angeles -- more emotional -- Freni -- more lacerating -- Tebaldi -- and more imperious -- Callas, there was always something especially endearing about Renata Scotto's Butterfly. Call it humanity. Scotto's Butterfly is not a histrionic heroine but a woman blinded by love doomed by her illusions; in other words, a wholly believable and immensely sympathetic character. Confronted in the end by the reality of her hopeless situation, Scotto's despair is tangibly real - ... Read More

While there have been Butterflies more vulnerable -- de Los Angeles -- more emotional -- Freni -- more lacerating -- Tebaldi -- and more imperious -- Callas, there was always something especially endearing about Renata Scotto's Butterfly. Call it humanity. Scotto's Butterfly is not a histrionic heroine but a woman blinded by love doomed by her illusions; in other words, a wholly believable and immensely sympathetic character. Confronted in the end by the reality of her hopeless situation, Scotto's despair is tangibly real -- and deeply affecting. All by itself, Scotto's performance would be worth the price of admission.But then there's the rest of the cast and especially the conducting. Carlo Bergonzi is a brusque but not heartless Pinkerton; Anna di Stasio is an appealing but not clueless Suzuki; Rolando Panerai is a bluff but not witless Sharpless; and the remainder of the cast is nearly equally fine. Best of all is the conducting. It was not often that John Barbirolli recorded an opera, but the... Read Less