Opera San Jose’s Madama Butterfly in Review
Holly Alexis Sisson, MA (consciousness studies)
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was one of the finest Italian composers. During my pursuits to research, the forever academic, Opera and particularly this composition and the San Jose Opera, I was surprised to discover that with an ocean and a continent apart there was a direct connection between Milan and San Jose, California during Puccini’s time. David Belasco, born in San Francisco, produced the play from which Puccini derived the opera. Belasco wrote, directed, produced, and acted in a number of plays just a few blocks from California Theatre in San Jose.
I was already mesmerized by the daydream fantasies I had of wringing my heart out at intermission and wearing those funny little flip opera-glasses, but this connection made it all the more enticing.
One of my mentors and teacher of indigenous knowledge and shamanic practices once said “the modern Western culture leaves no place in the music industry for the depth of emotions that help us process the story of being human except the Opera.” Being my first opera show I was very excited to witness and participate in that depth of emotion.
After getting lost in the “big city” of San Jose, California on opening night and missing the first act completely, Joseph Duong- Communications and PR Manager agreed that I should see the entire show again the next day. In the end nobody wore the little flip glasses but I got to see one and one half performances of the tragically romanticized portrayal of faith in a destiny that was never to be. This is a story of a Japanese woman who “lost it all”- twice, in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
Set in Japan in the late 19th century, Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton of the U.S. Navy inspects a house and its property, including three servants and a geisha who will soon be his wife, Cio-Cio-san or “Madama Butterfly.” Butterfly came from an affluent Japanese family who lost everything when her father committed suicide by stabbing himself in the heart. Without the income of her father Butterfly had to learn the artistry of being a geisha amidst a country in wartime in order to support herself and her mother. Before happily marrying Pinkerton at age fifteen she shows him her very few possessions including the precious knife that took her father’s life. Immediately after their marriage Pinkerton heads stateside to find a “real American wife.” So begins the sojourn of Butterfly’s waiting his return. At this point my heart is aching for this fifteen year-old girl who converted to Christianity for a man who only married her because she “came with the property.”
This tale of love and destiny is wrought with humor and the pain of disillusionment in a faith in a destiny based on fear of poverty and living a life serving others through her body. At one point she continues to convince herself that Pinkerton is coming back stating that the Christian God is not “fat and lazy” like the Japanese gods. Day after day, night after night, Butterfly waits for Pinkerton’s ship to appear with their child that he has not yet met and her faithful servant Suzuki.
As I had the opportunity to sit front and center in the orchestra seating I could not only hear the deeply resonating emotive song coming from the incredible voices and musical instruments just a few feet from where I was sitting, but I could see the expressions on the performers faces- almost a shamanic transportation to another realm out of my seat and into the heart of the world. Cecilia Violetta Lopez, Opera San Jose Resident singer and International opera performer, left no one dry-eyed. With the integrity of her soprano voice and the apparent embodiment of Butterfly in every cell of her body, which had not disappeared even at the bow at the end of the performance. The entire cast was a montage of fluidity and dramatic beauty that brought the entire audience into a state of ecstasy.
The California Theatre provided the beautifully ornate setting for this operatic performance with stunning backdrops of a springtime wedding covered in flowers. The modern technological era we live in provided us with the stunning projection of a starry sky that doubled as the night ocean- setting for Butterfly as she stayed up all those nights during her three-year wait for her supposedly devoted husband, and destiny, to return and meet his son.
I give Opera San Jose’s production of Madama Butterfly a perfect score and look forward to planning another trip down in the future for performances to come.
Opera San Jose’s mission statement devotes attention to “presenting the finest opera performances while creating and providing cultural and educational programs for future generations to come.” OSJ is the only full-year resident opera company in the United States, leading the way for future generations to participate in processing the depth of the roller coaster experience of being human. On May 10, 2014 there will be a Tribute Dinner to Celebrate the legacy of Irene Dalis, who I got a glimpse of in the lobby at California Theatre, Founder and International Artist at The Sainte Claire Hotel, San Jose from 3:00pm-6:00pm.