Hiromi Omura in Opera Australia’s Madama Butterfly Photo: Branco Gaica
Tokyo-born soprano Hiromi Omura received rapturous applause when she sang the haunting aria from Madama Butterfly, “Un Bel Di Vedremmo”, at the Sydney Opera House last night.
As Cio-Cio-San, the trusting child bride of cavalierly insensitive and caddish US Naval lieutenant, Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, Omura has made opera audiences swoon around the world. She brought many people to their feet last night in appreciation of her heart-wrenching performance.
Omura draws on her innate femininity, grace and power in this tragic tale of ill-fated love based on a one act play by David Belasco, who adapted the play from a magazine story by John Luther Long, inspired in turn by a French novel entitled Madame Chrysantheme.
So entranced by the story was Italian composer Giacomo Puccini that after seeing the Belasco play in London, he rushed backstage after the performance and begged the playwright for permission to use his play as the basis for his next opera.
The rest is history.
Retold in many guises and probably based on true events in Nagasaki in far off Japan, the story still rings true today. Act I is all about love and hope, culminating in a stunning scene where the couple kisses against the backdrop of a star-lit sky and full moon.
In stark contrast, Act II is all about pain, suffering and clinging to desperate hope, with ‘Butterfly’ in a mirror image scene appealing to the full moon alone and forsaken.
In this two hour plus singing marathon Omura’s interpretation of the universal theme of the abandoned woman caught between two cultures is soulful and even tear jerking without ever sinking to the level of schmalz.
No easy feat, not to mention the important fact that OMG the girl can sing.
And how refreshing it is to see lead opera singers who actually look like young lovers. Upcoming Australian tenor James Egglestone’s Pinkerton is young and handsome and Omura is the image of youth and innocence.
The actor who played the three-year-old boy child of the unhappy couple comes close to stealing the show without opening his mouth to sing a single note.
Omura’s performance is complemented by the youthful, talented and internationally renowned Japanese-born conductor Ryusuke Numajiri, in front of the magical Opera Australia Chorus.
Australian designers Peter England and Russell Cohen have resisted the temptation to produce the elaborate sets and costumes usually associated with the opera and have instead created an understated yet exquisite set that intensifies the focus on the performances.
Lighting designer Robert Bryan’s floating lanterns and luminous night sky sparkling with moon and stars bring romance and pathos to the stage.
You have until October 20 to catch the present line up. After that Omura, Egglestone, Michael Lewis as the US Consul and Numajiri will be replaced by Antoinette Halloran, David Corcoran, Andrew Moran and Tom Woods.
Madama Butterfly
Opera in two acts by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
September 20 – November 1
Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Bookings: +61 2 9250 7777
