![]() Her duet in the first act with Pinkerton was quite magical in her vocal expressiveness as she allowed herself to succumb to his advances. She nonetheless displayed a touching and occasionally endearingly comical Butterfly who managed to portray an almost childlike vulnerability and innocence. Haroutounian is manifestly unconvincing as a 15-year-old. Armenian Lianna Haroutounian proves to be more than a match for that challenge, turning a passionate and most powerful performance throughout. Puccini made the role of Cio-Cio-San, (Madama Butterfly), a most challenging and demanding role for the soprano. That said, this is, MUSICALLY at least, a gourmet feast for the ears and senses, pretty much right across the board. ![]() This story, quaintly described as being “of its time,” has long created furore from critics and whilst the Royal Opera House revisions may go some way to augmenting respect for Japanese culture, the accusations of its misogyny, cultural appropriation, American Imperialism, child sexual exploitation and racism are, understandably, going to persist. He then returns to procure the, then, 3-year-old child when made aware of his existence, leading Cio-Cio San to commit suicide. He unknowingly impregnates the Geisha before abandoning her and marrying someone else back home. ![]() In fairness, there is no amount of makeovers that can mask what is, inarguably, a most insalubrious plot: American Naval Officer buys house, along with 15-year-old Geisha Cio-Cio San in an arranged marriage, persuading her to disown her religion and adopt his in the process. ROYAL OPERA HOUSE REVIEW HOW TOSuch a program involved extensive instruction workshops designed to teach the cast playing Japanese characters how to move, act, laugh, dress and adopt key poses and mannerisms in order to eradicate negative stereotyping. Whether these modifications are perceptible to the viewing public remains to be seen, although I would respectfully suggest that only the most observant cognoscente would notice them. Undeniably the big story of this production of the Royal Opera House’s “Madama Butterfly,” as directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, was that revival director Daniel Dooner would work to create a dialogue around the work’s most problematic aspects. ![]()
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