DE LOS ANGELES & BJÖRLING Puccini - Madama Butterfly (stereo, 1959) - PACO214

EMI recorded Madama Butterfly in September and October 1959 in Rome, reuniting the two stars of the 1956 recording of La Bohème, Victoria de los Angeles and Jussi Björling. It was to be the last complete opera that Jussi Björling recorded, and the heart condition that would end his life at the age of just 49 in 1960 was already apparent. He collapsed during one recording session of the act 1 love duet and needed several days to recover before he was able to continue. Yet listening to this recording you might never know. Björling’s singing is carefree, thoroughly Italiante in style, and commits to disc a Pinkerton that you want to listen to again and again. He is passionate and committed in the love duet, and rather than being callous or calculating, his Pinkerton simply doesn’t think about the consequences of his actions. EMI’s engineers did better than anyone else at capturing the full range and beauty of Björling’s voice and we are fortunate that he was able to record a role that he had not sung on stage since 1939.

Victoria de los Angeles is an ideal Butterfly. The Spanish soprano sang a wide variety of roles on stage including Carmen, Mimì, Marguerite, and Elisabeth, but for Butterfly her light and smooth tone is suitably youthful and infatuated yet it has plenty of power when needed. By act 3 de los Angeles gives us a fully-rounded picture of Butterfly’s tragedy, aching with sorrow. Few have sung the role so beautifully.

Italian baritone Mario Sereni sings Sharpless. Sereni had an extensive career at the Met in New York, singing more than 500 performances between 1957 and 1984, concentrating on Italian roles and particularly on Puccini and Verdi. He is perhaps less remembered today as some other baritones but this recording demonstrates that he was a performer of the first rank who deserves to be better known.

Conductor Gabriele Santini was the artistic director of the Rome Opera and brings all the experience of that role to bear. Conducting his own orchestra he is able to bring out the wonderful details of Puccini’s score to give us a Butterfly that remains one of the best ever recorded.