- Actors: Mirella Freni, Plácido Domingo, Christa Ludwig, Robert Kerns, Michel Sénéchal
- Directors: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
- Writers: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, David Belasco, Giuseppe Giacosa, Jean-Louis Martinoty, Luigi Illica
- Producers: Fritz Buttenstedt
- Format: Dolby, Classical, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, NTSC, Colour
- Language Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian
- Region: All Regions
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: Exempt
- Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
- DVD Release Date: 9 May 2005
- Run Time: 146 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0007P0LO8
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 21,123 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Of all Puccini's major operas, the intimate tragedy of Madama Butterfly is least in need of elaborate staging and might therefore benefit most from the close scrutiny of film. The story is domestic, the setting Spartan, the incidental characters kept to a minimum. This 1974 version, however, demonstrates that Butterfly still needs a healthy injection of proscenium arch melodrama. Director Jean-Pierre Ponelle's production strives for realism but remains unfortunately studio-bound, having neither the benefit of location filming nor the heightened reality of an opera stage. The exterior is a perpetually fog-shrouded heath of indeterminate locale; the interior is cramped and unadorned. The setting is just too prosaic to contain the epic emotions of grand opera.
Thankfully, the cast is superb, headed by Placido Domingo's rakish Pinkerton and Mirella Freni's rubicund Butterfly. Their singing is incomparable, as is Herbert von Karajan's musical direction of the Vienna Phil. The singers mime to pre-recorded music, which is occasionally disconcerting since when film demands close-ups opera provides broad gestures. Musically, this Butterfly is impeccable. Visually it adds nothing that could not be seen to better effect in a stage version.
On the DVD: Madama Butterfly is presented disappointingly on disc in a poor NTSC transfer full of distracting graininess that makes every scene, both inside and out, look like it takes place in an omnipresent drizzle. Sound is reasonable stereo and adequate 5.0 surround. There are subtitles in the major European languages as well as Chinese, and the booklet contains a background essay plus synopsis. --Mark Walker
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
With two of the best ever opera stars this performance of Madama Butterfly has a head start. I love this interpretation and it is my favourite opera. Domingo is outstanding in both his acting and vocal performance of this role of Pinkerton. The sincerity and flippancy of the character is evident and his voice is superb. As for Mirella Freni, she makes an excellent Butterfly. Her mixture of naievity and passion is exactly right for this role. She makes you really believe and emapthise with the characters love for Pinkerton and her inocence of life. I would say that if you buy only one version of this wonderful opera it should be this one. All the characters are portrayed excellently. The singing is divine and the setting magnificent. Every act is a joy to behold but for me the most magical is the first. This truly is the best way to indulge yourself and can be enjoyed over and over again.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This could have been a truly memorable performance had it not been ruined by the stage Director. Musically, you will be very hard pressed to find a better Butterfly. Mirella Freni has a fresh and full voice in 1974 and delivers the demands of the title role with superb singing and wonderful acting. Her big expressive eyes, although neither Japanese nor fifteen years of age, portray all the agony that this young woman was subjected to. Her singing matches these emotions with great warmth and vocal accuracy, although at times you hear her sing but you do not see her sing as the soundtrack was superimposed onto the film at a latter stage and the principals do not mimic their own singing convincingly all the time. Placido Domingo is in truly great voice, one of his best ever vocal performances on DVD. His acting is superb, portraying the arrogant American sailor. Christa Ludwig is a jewel in the set. Both her very fine singing and her emotional acting bring a perfect portrayal of Butterfly's maid. Robert Kerns is a very good Sharpless (the American Consul) and Michel Sénéchal portrays a very vulgar Italian-style marriage broker. The Vienna Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan provide an incredible orchestral background and under Karajan's direction the entire singing and flow of this very dramatic score reaches the finest climaxes imaginable.
So why do I give only 4 stars. Almost the entire opera is filmed on a non-discript fog bound colourless heath, covered by dry grass. Is this Mr Ponnelle's idea of a Japanese garden during the cherry blossom ? If it is, the man has a weird and twisted view of this world, a world in which the word beauty has no place. The man, judging him from his other stagings of operas, like the "Barber of Seville" also on DGG DVD, has taste. So what happened here? What have we ordinary mortals and viewers of this performance done to deserve such treatment? Having said all that, he still does provide us wit some lovely shots of the opera, but unfortunately these are rare compared to that terrible fog and the colourless heath. A filmed theatrical performance would have been much preferable.
So why do I give only 4 stars. Almost the entire opera is filmed on a non-discript fog bound colourless heath, covered by dry grass. Is this Mr Ponnelle's idea of a Japanese garden during the cherry blossom ? If it is, the man has a weird and twisted view of this world, a world in which the word beauty has no place. The man, judging him from his other stagings of operas, like the "Barber of Seville" also on DGG DVD, has taste. So what happened here? What have we ordinary mortals and viewers of this performance done to deserve such treatment? Having said all that, he still does provide us wit some lovely shots of the opera, but unfortunately these are rare compared to that terrible fog and the colourless heath. A filmed theatrical performance would have been much preferable.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is one of my favourite opera DVDs ever; the audio version made around the same time with almost the same forces (Pavarotti as Pinkerton instead of Domingo) was one of the recordings that got me hooked to opera as a youngster and this is no less memorable. Just about everything you could want from an opera performance is present here; all the roles are sung and acted gloriously and each performer makes us believe they actually are the character they are portraying. Freni, in the title role, has the perfect "belter" voice but is also most moving and tender in the final scene. Domingo plays opera's biggest bounder to the manor born and is in the voice of his life at 1974 vintage. The subsidiary roles are in no way overshadowed by this; Christa Ludwig's Suzuki is just as memorable as the brilliantly seedy portayal of Goro by Michel Senechal and Robert Kerns' warm but strong baritone in the role of Sharpless. Dutch bass Marius Rintzler is quite terrifying as the Bonze.
Karajan and the Vienna are the dream team they always seemed to be whether in concert, on film or in the opera pit and are helped by a gorgeous acoustic (Vienna's Sofiensaal?). The golden tone of this great orchestra raises the hairs on the back of the neck and Karajan shows his feeling for taking just the right amount of extra time at the most sensual and emotional moments of the music. The beautiful playing of the violin phrase after Sharpless' line in Act I, "Bevo alla vostra famiglia lontana" is just one of many moments that tighten the throat of the listener.
Ponnelle's film is atmospheric and traditional; all in all a DVD that delights the eyes as much the ears.
Karajan and the Vienna are the dream team they always seemed to be whether in concert, on film or in the opera pit and are helped by a gorgeous acoustic (Vienna's Sofiensaal?). The golden tone of this great orchestra raises the hairs on the back of the neck and Karajan shows his feeling for taking just the right amount of extra time at the most sensual and emotional moments of the music. The beautiful playing of the violin phrase after Sharpless' line in Act I, "Bevo alla vostra famiglia lontana" is just one of many moments that tighten the throat of the listener.
Ponnelle's film is atmospheric and traditional; all in all a DVD that delights the eyes as much the ears.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
classic opera
Always has been my favourite opera & Mirella Freni & Placido Domingo are excellent in their roles. Recommend it to all opera fans.
Published 10 months ago by gardener
Madama Butterfly
Loved this production. Because it was a film rather than a stage production it was very realistic, if a bit OTT in spots. Read more
Published on 25 April 2010 by Maura Devine
"He'll call `Butterfly' from the distance"
It is the late 1800's. An American naval captain, Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton (Plácido Domingo) is stationed in Japan. As is tradition he has a girl in every port. Read more
Published on 22 April 2007 by bernie
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