Madam Butterfly – review

Joachim Herz died in 2010, but his legendary production of Madam Butterfly for Welsh National Opera, first seen nearly 35 years ago, lives on. Whether he would have approved of its inclusion in artistic director David Pountney's themed season – entitled Free Spirits – is open to question. Cio-Cio San may have been gutsy enough to try and forge a life for herself through the marriage with Lieutenant Pinkerton and by espousing all things American, but she is effectively as trapped by those choices as by the oppressive bonds of her own family history.

In the title role, Cheryl Barker was spirited, though her delivery was initially uneven, sometimes sounding too thin and other times too fruity for the 15-year-old Butterfly. Yet, as the dramatic focus of the role sharpened, Barker's voice became more focused and impassioned, while the graceful flow of her movements, even in her greatest despair, was an elegant reflection of Butterfly's name and the fragility it embodies.

Tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones was so confident in exaggerating Pinkerton's callow demeanour and his disdain of Japanese traditions that, at the final curtain, he was roundly booed for his pains. Herz would surely have been mystified by this trend for booing baddies, regardless of their vocal prowess. The consul Sharpless and Butterfly's maid, Suzuki, the two who must watch the tragedy unfold, were strongly portrayed by Alan Opie and Claire Bradshaw. Conductor Frédéric Chaslin realised both the early bustling energy of Puccini's score and the anguish of the latter part, and he reaped the benefit of a WNO orchestra still in fine fettle following their success in Berg's Lulu.