Madama Butterfly

I just love going to the Opera hear in Nashville.  It’s a real occasion for most of the people who go.  They get dressed up, they donate money to stuff, have nice drinks and mingle, and they really put a lot of feeling into the applause at the end.  Nashville’s attendees of the Opera are not just paying customers, they are very glad to be there.

And why not?  What’s to complain about when one gets to see Kallen Esperian, Tennesee native, perform Madame Butterfly?  The show was lovely.  The child they got to play “sorrow” was adorable.  The supporting vocals were quite good.  Jennifer Hines was a superb Suzuki… but for me, it was Frank Hernandez as the American Consulate Sharpless, who really stood out.  He really nailed that part last night, and it was his sense of dutiful sorrow that really sets the tone for our own sense of dutiful sorrow.

Once again, I thought that the set was quite beautiful.  There was one hilarious malfunction last night, where Act I ended with a shooting star shooting across the skyline… that then hit some sort of wall at the end and bounced halfway back across the night sky!  Now that’s some serious retrograde motion!   Also, I could see the orange tape showing the marks for where people needed to stand in the house and also a couple of the marks for where the house was supposed to sit when it gets turned during the performance.  But these are minor quibbles.

The bottom line is, it’s Puccini.  It’s sung brilliantly and it’s performed brilliantly by the Nashville Symphony.  While everyone was talking about the shooting star at intermission, on the way out everyone was talking about how much they enjoyed the performance.  It’s wonderful, it’s moving, and if you’re a student, it’s ONLY $10 if you buy tickets the day of.  I highly recommend that you consider going to the Saturday night show, TPAC will be packed, and a good time will be had by all.