Madame Butterfly. Musical Theater

There was a little shock. First, Pinkerton is a handsome lieutenant. On the stage, he is by no means a youth, although he is brave and self-confident. The first thought is, well, there is no correspondence, although appearance is not the main thing in the opera, yeah. But it was only a moment, because the tenor of Nikolai Erokhin captivates and beckons. You see, young Cio-Cio-san-such can give everything that a poor girl dreams of - home, love, reliability. But, no, in the speeches of the lieutenant, familiar motives sound - to pick a fragrant flower, to give joy to a gentle creature. Oh my god, how familiar!

Caught in his net and Butterfly. Elena Guseva, her soprano, is gentle, full of hopes of love and happiness. You believe her, you only wish her happiness .. although you know that this will not happen, alas. A very solid image - full, proud and feminine.
Butterfly, real butterfly - beautiful, fragile. Her age is short. Suzuki is beautiful, the maid of Cio-Cio-san. Ksenia Dudnikova has a strong and beautiful voice. Her passion sometimes overshadows her mistress.

The Japanese flavor is rather curiously presented, in particular, the Japanese themselves - geisha, guests and other people. Of course, I know Japan only from films and drawings, so the clothes and movements of the Japanese made me smile. They were very unusual and even funny. Maybe foreigners also portray Russians-padded jacket, balalaika)) I don’t know. Although two Japanese were sitting next to me, they liked it (seemingly). The performance turned out to be very whole, full-blooded, emotional, even with beautiful voices and emotions. The orchestra under the direction of Felix Korobov shone. Sometimes it even shone and thundered, breaking ahead of the voices of the singers.
And the finale..the finale is predictable in plot and beautiful in form. A boat with a dying Butterfly floating down the river of oblivion.

” is another example of minimalism in opera. The production has not changed for more than seven years, and people keep coming and going. No choice? That's where I went recently. Here's another note to remember.

Cio-Cio-san — Olga Guryakova
Pinkerton, Lieutenant of the American Navy - Anton Ivanov
Suzuki, Cio-Cio-san's servant - Natalya Vladimirovskaya
Sharpless, American Consul in Nagasaki - Andrey Baturkin
Goro, broker - Valery Mikitsky
Prince Yamadori - Felix Kudryavtsev
Bonza, Uncle Butterfly - Vladimir Svistov
Commissioner - Mikhail Golovushkin
Uncle Yakushida - Victor Moiseikin
Kat Pinkerton - Ella Feiginova
The son of Butterfly and Pinkerton - Lavrenty Yermolin
Cousin Cio-Cio-san - Valentina Ermilova
Conductor - Felix Korobov
Artist — Elena Stepanova
Stage director - Lyudmila Naletova

The trend towards simplification of productions does not change. And, as I understand it, all over the world. Minimalism is sweeping the planet at such a pace that you can immediately translate the entire opera into a concert performance. What most think contemporary directors and artists, in demand, I think, only among people who come to the opera for show, do not think about the production itself, pretending to understand something. Among them there are those who really appreciate new trends, study them for some reason, but there are few who appreciate classical opera.

There is a shortage of quality performances. Where to go to listen to the opera, if there are mostly modern productions everywhere? Only on these productions and go. To my mind, main feature productions by the Moscow Musical Theater are the work of opera directors. But this feature is not a plus, but a big minus; she does not honor the directors. “Madama Butterfly” is, after all, such an opera that opens up a huge field of activity for the artist. Opera in general should be beautiful, and Madama Butterfly in particular: the scene is Japan with its ancient culture and unique nature, Japanese costumes are colorful, the attributes are varied. Everything should delight a Western connoisseur! There is nothing to admire in this production, there is nothing to catch the eye, there is no beauty, the contemplation of which can be enjoyed, there is no immersion in action and departure into another world far from us. Although almost all the events of the opera take place in the same house, on the stage we also see in the course of all two acts an unchanging, but terribly boring scenery, in no way similar to a Japanese house. Large white cobblestones are scattered on the bare floor, which serve either as a seat or as a table for people. What they symbolize, I have no idea. Coupled with the boat on wheels that Pinkerton sometimes rides around the stage with Cio-Cio-san, you might think that these are stones on the banks of the river. That's strange: after all, where a boat is needed, it is not (in ""), and where it is out of place, as in "Madama Butterfly", where there is only a house on a mountain, it was somehow driven sideways. Almost in the center, now to the left, now to the right, depending on the current act of the opera, there is a certain structure, it is not clear what it means, a large frame of white boards in the form of an irregular pyramid, or rather even a mountain. If you cover it with a tarpaulin, it will definitely be a mountain. On wheels. Or is it a house? And also in different sides scenes are two rectangular frames with an area of ​​one meter and a height of two. People sometimes entered these frames and stood, sat, sang, were silent. That's all the decorations! Toward the end, however, some more wrappers on threads hung from the ceiling. It’s not clear what they will invent, but the audience must rack their brains or pretend that they understand what is what.

Some of the actors' multi-coloured but not flashy costumes look good from afar, but in reality, they bear little resemblance to Japan. main character she also looks like a Japanese woman in her attire, something like a kimono on her, and her hair is styled accordingly. She herself is whitewashed and well decorated, unlike other Japanese, who were all wearing masks. The heroes of the Americans were dressed simply: in boring monochromatic suits. And the extras are funny: in masks, in their hands all sorts of nonsense (brooms, tree branches, lanterns), on their heads some kind of hats with earflaps, they walk, swaying amusingly; similar to Chinese peasants. By and large, all these costumes are the helplessness of the directors. Stage designer Elena Stepanova was awarded the Russian National Theater Prize in 2003 for the scenery and costumes for this performance. golden mask". Where are we rolling?

I won't say anything about singing this time. Somehow I didn’t remember, or rather, nothing stood out. Weird. They sang normally, or maybe I was so immersed in the music itself and in the credits that I didn’t notice the blunder. I came to this opera with the hope of plunging into tragic story, and partly I succeeded, despite the lack of scenery and the bad acting of the actors. Actors generally let us down. There was no theatrical play. They walked, wandered, mimicked. Cio-Cio-san even succeeded in something, but she is very far from a Japanese woman. In a word, the opera did not impress visually! There was nowhere to wait for help, I had to soar in my own world, in my fantasies. Unless I was completely satisfied with the orchestra. Conductor Felix Korobov worked to the fullest. Heard and beautiful music, and singing.

This time we, my companion and I, took our seats in the first row of the mezzanine. I thought it would be more convenient there, it turned out the opposite. We often had to lean forward in order to have a good view of the whole stage and the orchestra over the board. In general, the first row of the mezzanine is contraindicated for people with short stature! Interestingly, unlike my few other trips to the opera, this time there was no full house. I think only 70 percent of the room was full. More than half of the mezzanine was empty; this became especially noticeable when some people simply left after the first act. The audience, I noticed, was quite diverse: many elderly, couples different ages, someone came alone, a noticeable number of foreigners (mostly Italians). In the first act behind us in two rows sat at least 20 Indians: men and women about 50 years old. From time to time they spoke loudly, interfered with listening, but after the intermission, there was no trace of them. Apparently they got bored. But they weren't the only ones who were bored. My girlfriend didn’t get any pleasure at all this time: she found the production gray, she didn’t get into the plot, for some reason the music didn’t impress her either. But she loves good opera, especially Verdi's masterpieces. This is how you can discourage people from going to theaters and listening to opera.

What did I write about the bad things? There is, after all, a good moment - the music of Puccini. I was completely consumed by her! And closer to the end of the opera, I began to perspire, at the end, at the most tragic moment, I was thrown into a fever, and I uttered a mean male tear. Here is the music!

And here's something else. The idea arose to write a collective request from all opera lovers to the Moscow Musical Theatre. The essence of the request is that this theater donate its boat " Novaya Opera". Ein wertvolles Geschenk für unglücklich Lohengrin.

An interesting review of the production of Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

about the performance

Madama Butterfly

For more than a hundred years, the works of Giacomo Puccini have adorned the repertoires of the world's leading theaters, however, many of the works of this composer were not immediately accepted. Among them is the opera Madama Butterfly, which is now considered one of the best creations of the Italian genius. The premiere production of this work failed miserably at La Scala. A distressed Puccini contributed to the score significant changes, added another act and in updated version introduced opera to Brescia. This time, the audience enthusiastically accepted it. Since then, this work has been a success everywhere, and tickets for the opera Madama Butterfly are always sold out with great excitement.

At the Musical Theatre. K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko's opera Puccini was staged by director Alexander Titel. In his vision, the story of the geisha Cio-Cio-san and Lieutenant Pinkerton is shown not as a melodrama, but as a clash of two moral principles. To the fore in the production is displayed psychological conflict sincerity and falsehood. To see a fascinating story that turns from a tearful melodrama into a real tragedy, you should book tickets for the opera Madama Butterfly at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater on our website online or by phone.

The duration of the performance is 2 hours 45 minutes (with one intermission).

Ticket price: from 1200 to 4000 rubles.

Composer Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
Musical Director and Conductor Ara Karapetyan
Conductor: Vyacheslav Volich
Conductor: Felix Korobov
Stage director Lyudmila Nalyotova
Plastic director and choreographer Irina Lychagina
Art director Elena Stepanova
Costume designer Elena Stepanova
Lighting designer Ildar Bederdinov
Genre Opera
Number of acts 2
Spoken language Italian
Original title Madama Butterfly
Duration 2 hours 45 minutes (one intermission)
Premiere date 04.05.2002
Age limit 12+
The performance is a laureate of the Russian National theater awards"Golden Mask" 2003 in 4 nominations (" best performance in the opera"; " best job director"; "the best work of the artist"; "the best female role- Olga Guryakova).

Conductor - Vyacheslav Volich, Felix Korobov

Cio-Cio-san - Irina Vashchenko, Elena Guseva
Pinkerton - Nikolai Erokhin, Nazhmiddin Mavlyanov, Dmitry Polkopin
Sharpless - Andrey Baturkin, Anatoly Loshak, Evgeny Polikanin, Alexey Shishlyaev
Suzuki - Natalia Vladimirskaya, Ksenia Dudnikova, Ella Feiginova
Goro - Evgeny Lieberman, Vyacheslav Marutaev, Valery Mikitsky
Bonza - Felix Kudryavtsev, Vladimir Svistov
Commissioner - Mikhail Golovushkin, Ilya Pavlov
Prince Yamadori - Felix Kudryavtsev, Victor Moiseikin
Kat Pinkerton - Larisa Andreeva, Veronika Vyatkina, Ella Feiginova

Ticket price:
Mezzanine 1200-1600 rubles
Lodge 1200-1600 rubles
Parterre 2100-2300 rubles

Composer - Giacomo Puccini
Libretto - Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
Musical Director and Conductor - Ara Karapetyan

Stage director - Lyudmila Nalyotova
Plastic director and choreographer - Irina Lychagina
Set Designer - Elena Stepanova
Costume designer - Elena Stepanova
Lighting designer - Ildar Bederdinov

Actors and performers:
Conductor - Vyacheslav Volich, Felix Korobov
Cio-Cio-san - Irina Vashchenko, Elena Guseva
Pinkerton - Nikolai Erokhin, Nazhmiddin Mavlyanov
Sharpless - Andrey Baturkin, Evgeny Polikanin, Alexey Shishlyaev
Suzuki - Natalia Vladimirskaya, Veronika Vyatkina, Ksenia Dudnikova, Ella Feiginova
Goro - Evgeny Lieberman, Valery Mikitsky
Bonza - Felix Kudryavtsev, Vladimir Svistov
Commissioner - Mikhail Golovushkin, Kirill Kapachinsky
Prince Yamadori - Felix Kudryavtsev, Stanislav Lee
Kat Pinkerton - Veronika Vyatkina, Ella Feiginova, Anastasia Khoroshilova

Madama Butterfly is as beautiful as it is tragic. This opera has long and firmly taken its place in the Stanislavsky Musical Theatre. "Madama Butterfly" is one of the most outstanding performances of the group. In the 2001-2002 season. the production was awarded the prestigious Golden Mask award, as well as individual awards Director-producer Lyudmila Naletova, artist Elena Stepanova and the artist performing the main vocal part - Olga Guryakova were awarded. It is natural that tickets for the performance are so hugely popular. Every fan of the theater in general and operatic art in particular, this unique creation by Giacomo Puccini must be heard at least once. Each spectator leaves after the performance with tears of admiration in his eyes and with an aching feeling in his chest. The dramatic love story, skillfully embodied by the musicians and soloists of the Stanislavsky Theater, cannot leave anyone indifferent.

The plot of the tragic opera Madama Butterfly tells us about an officer of the American Navy, Franklin Pinkerton, who entered into a marriage alliance with a Japanese woman, Cio-Cio-Chan. Franklin Pinkerton becomes infatuated with a beautiful young geisha while his ship is stopped off the coast of Nagasaki. A girl with a cute nickname Butterfly (Butterfly) - charming, pure creation. With all her heart she fell in love with an American, for the sake of him she changed her religion and was forced to come to terms with the fact that her relatives disowned her. However, for Americans at that time, a temporary union with a woman in a foreign land was commonplace. Some time later, Pinkerton returns to his homeland, and Cio-Cio-Chan is faithfully waiting for him and raising her son alone. Quite differently than Pinkerton, she regards marriage. For Butterfly, the marriage vow is something unshakable, indestructible, holy. Years pass, and Franklin, indeed, comes to Japan again ... but he brings with him American wife, and wants to take his son from a Japanese woman with him. Cio-Cio-San cannot refuse her husband. She says goodbye to the child and to her own life ...

One of the most tragic, emotionally rich operas in the world, Madama Butterfly, is today one of the most popular productions. The best directors turn to an exotic story about the pure and devoted love of a young Cio-Cio-San, nicknamed Butterfly, for an American officer. The author of the opera was the greatest italian composer Giacomo Puccini inspired by David Belasco's Geisha. Already the first performances aroused delight among the public, and the following decades secured the glory of the best work for Puccini's work. dramatic history centuries. Here the composer was able to perfectly reveal the intense experiences of the heroine, her emotional maturation and the idea of ​​self-sacrifice.

By ordering tickets for the performance of Madama Butterfly, you can become a witness to an exciting drama. Unusual place the action of the play - the city of Nagasaki in Japan - enhances the feeling of the unusual story of the characters. A fifteen-year-old geisha becomes the wife of an American officer, Pinkerton. But soon viewers will learn that this marriage has no legal force in America - Pinkerton does not want to make a commitment. Soon he returns to his homeland, and the heroine is waiting for him, not believing the words of the truth that Suzuki's maid tells her. Time passes, Butterfly has a son. Three years later, Pinkerton returns. But not alone, but with a new young wife, with whom he wants to take the child.

The climax of the production is one of the most dramatic in the history of opera. Finally beginning to understand that her lover has betrayed her, Butterfly sees no other way out than suicide. The magnificent music of the opera's finale allows you to feel the depth of the heroine's suffering, all her tragedy. Keeping human dignity she sacrifices her life for the good of the child.