Madama Butterfly - The Metropolitan Opera - 2 Apr - Saturday Matinee

The Metropolitan Opera - Madama Butterfly (2 Apr 2016)

Cast: 

Conductor - Karel Mark Chichon

Cio-Cio San - Kristine Opolais

Pinkerton - Roberto Alagna
Suzuki - Maria Zifchak
Sharpless - Dwayne Croft


The big arias in this opera include, firstly "Ancora un passo or via" in the first Act. The highlight is of course whether Cio-Cio San, played by Kristine Opolais here, will sing the D-flat or not. This time, she did. I was not prepared for that, honestly, because I have never heard a D-flat from Opolais. Speaking of her voice, it is not a classically beautiful voice, but I think it goes fine with Puccini. However, there are a few things still to improve. The voice was a little too big during the "Ancora un passo or via" where it is supposed to be a 15 year-old girl singing of joy and excitement, it thus made the melodic line a little too heavy. While it is a great attempt to sing the high D flat, it sacrificed the legato of the last phrase, which could have been ecstatic together with the high note. The rest of the Act, though, was enjoyable.

Act 2 is almost a solo act of the title role. Singing almost from the beginning to the end, the highlight here is the famous Un bel di. Again, I think the voice is a little too old for Cio-Cio San. The final B flat did not quite create the effect it was supposed to, the vibrato was not focused and it was a bit wobbly. Her voice suits Manon Lescaut better than Madama Butterfly. The last Act went pretty well though, the finale was climactic and she really sang as a desperate Cio-Cio San.


Roberto was definitely better here than at Manon Lescaut a few weeks ago (well Pinkerton is not a very demanding role given the time on stage and the vocal demand), maybe the role is shorter in time and the vocal demand is not as tough as Des Grieux. He really should not sing many high notes because his voice was obviously pushed too hard.


Overall this is an okay performance. Special credits go to Dwayne Croft and Maria Zifchak who are still as good as usual. I look forward to the next performance. 

2016 Worlds - Ladies

1. Evgenia Medvedeva 

The clear favourite of the event, and boy didn't she do great. The only flaw in both of her programs is just the wobble landing on the flip in the SP. The rest, she did perfect technically. I will probably never agree with the WR FS score and interpretation score, though.

2. Ashley Wagner

Probably her best competitive performance ever. She is perfect (well despite some UR that can only be seen under slo-mo) in both programs. She attacked her SP with fire and completely sold her FS. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

3. Anna Pogorilaya

She probably deserves a medal for NO FALL in her programs! I mean, holy cow she did not fall! Is that not impressive enough? Alright let'e get to the point, she was on fire in her SP. While her LP is nice to watch, I don't think it is a very good Scheherazade, the choreography is not very related. It was a mediocre Scheherazade.

4. Gracie Gold

I am glad she put on a smile in her SP and she was finally enjoying it (though still don't quite agree with the score). Her LP, is one of those programs that is not intriguing. But still, there is nothing she should be ashamed of, she tried her best and she made theme crowd happy.

5. Satoko Miyahara

I am one of those people that is not that annoyed by her small jumps (you can see every time she is jumping with more force), especially when she completely perfected her programs. It is very hard to skate to a lyrical piece without making it boring, you have to have good choreography, perfect connection to the music and maturity. IMO, she has all of them. And she actually deserved at least a small medal for her free skate, if not a big one.

6. Elena Radionova

She is very expressive, she almost can express in all pop songs. But first she has get used to her physique (unless she keeps growing), and correct her posture and landing. Sadly we can only wait, until she has completely gone through her growth spurt.

7. Mao Asada

She is literally in a totally different class from the rest. The skating skills, poise, and artistry is second to none. Though there were technical errors, I believe she enjoyed as much as we did. Thank you Mao for bringing us a magical moment.

8. Rika Hongo

FINALLY she put on a smile! She was so confident and energetic throughout the programs. She is powerful and she conquered. She should always skate like this, leave all nerves and uncertainties behind and just GO! GO! GO FORWARD!

Mirai Nagasu

I just can't say how happy I am to see her come back, after 6 years of hardwork, to the Worlds stage at home soil. Her SP gave me goosebumps, she totally skated her heart out and I, I don't even know what to say!

Zijun Li

She is probably better at classical pieces. Her Sleeping Beauty and Clair de Lune this season are just gorgeous. Her jumps look better, and the only thing to do now is deeper edges and better control. Looking forward to next season!





I am not talking about the scores, because I have no idea how they work already, clearly not in the same way a few years ago and how I expect it to work. That's why I don't know whether the skaters deserve their placements or not, but anyway, there are some remarkable performance here, and I will definitely come back to watch again and again! Overall, this is a stellar competition and I definitely had a great time. I so look forward to next season and I can't wait to see some new programs!!!