Credits:

Herbert Von Karajan

Description:

*Madama Butterfly* is Puccinis masterpiece, set in Nagasaki and incorporating Japanese folk songs and the U.S. national anthem.With a stellar cast led by Freni and Domingo, Karajan ideally captures the pure musicality hidden within the drama of exoticism and sentimentality in this work, which is prone to lapsing into sentimentality. The renowned director Ponnelle is brimming with ideas; he has crafted a fantastical visual world by making full use of a rich array of expressive techniques, including scenes that may seem outlandishsuch as the appearance of the monk and the unusually stylized Japanese house.Produced: January and September 1974 in Vienna (audio); November and December 1974 in Berlin (video)Universal Music/IMS