The first opera I ever saw was Tosca (in a Glyndebourne touring production in Oxford). Since then I haven’t been to a performance of any opera by Puccini, until WNO’s Butterfly.
This is clearly the year of the monochrome opera, as this is the second one I’ve been to (although this particular production is three decades old, so it’s not that they are suddenly trendy). This production made great use of sliding Japanese screens, – a real gift to set designers for their flexibility and transparency.
Pinkerton (Russell Thomas) seemed a little underpowered at first. Judith Howarth on the other hand seemed if anything a little too forceful overall, although her quiet singing was well controlled. The orchestra under Simon Phillippo played admirably. I’m normally a pretty calm audience member, but I finally had to succumb to Puccini’s all-out assault on the emotions.
I was sat towards the back of the stalls and had been warned about not being able to see the surtitles. In fact I could, though a rather taller member of the audience in the row behind me couldn’t, so height does play a part here.
Reviews of the production in the Independent and the Guardian. But note that some of the cast and the conductor changed between Cardiff and Bristol. A more local review of the Bristol cast can be found in Suit Yourself.
WNO have now sent me in the post a small packet of tissues, each emblazoned with the question ‘How did Welsh National Opera make you feel?’, and details of the spring 2010 offerings. I bet they didn’t send these to men who bought tickets. And surely the tissues would have been more useful just before the opera than a month afterwards?