Chelsea Opera does Madama Butterfly.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
On Friday night, Chelsea Opera unveiled Madama Butterfly, the final opera of its eighth season. The production, mounted at St. Peter's Church in the company's home neighborhood, effectively transformed the church nave into Butterfly's Nagasaki house with a simple, but effective set.
Considering that all of Puccini's opera takes place in one location, Butterfly is an ideal project for a small company to tackle. The challenge is finding singers who can make the characters convincing and still sing Puccini's soaring melodic lines with power and finesse.
Soprano Christina Rohm showed both of those qualities, charting Butterfly's development from giggling geisha girl to a fully mature, heartbroken woman. Although her voice hardens under pressure, she made use of long experience with the complexities of the character. Ms. Rohm found her groove in the Act I love duet with Pinkerton (Daniel Rodriguez), letting her defenses melt slowly away like layers of Japanese formal dress.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
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| Promotional image for Madama Butterfly at the Chelsea Opera. © 2012 Chelsea Opera. |
Considering that all of Puccini's opera takes place in one location, Butterfly is an ideal project for a small company to tackle. The challenge is finding singers who can make the characters convincing and still sing Puccini's soaring melodic lines with power and finesse.
Soprano Christina Rohm showed both of those qualities, charting Butterfly's development from giggling geisha girl to a fully mature, heartbroken woman. Although her voice hardens under pressure, she made use of long experience with the complexities of the character. Ms. Rohm found her groove in the Act I love duet with Pinkerton (Daniel Rodriguez), letting her defenses melt slowly away like layers of Japanese formal dress.
