Whether dressed in a kimono and Japanese sandals, like Teresa Eickel, or just warm-ups and sneakers, like David Cangelosi, the main performers in “Madama Butterfly” were focused on the task at hand. Even if they were still running into chorus members, the piano was swallowed up in the sound of their voices.
“Madama Butterfly,” Puccini’s classic opera, will be performed Apr. 4 and 6 in the Davis Concert Hall. The “concert” version has costumes and staging, but the singers are sharing the stage with the 80-piece Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, so sets and blocking are limited.
The opera is joint production between Fairbanks Symphony Association and Opera Fairbanks, and this will be the first time “Madama Butterfly” will be performed in Fairbanks.
The story is set in turn-of-the-century Nagasaki, Japan. It centers on a 15-year-old geisha, Cio-Cio San, or Butterfly, who marries a naval officer, Lt. Pinkerton, giving up her faith and family. But Pinkerton leaves for America after their wedding night, and his return three years later is not what Cio-Cio San expects.
Puccini’s deeply tragic opera is the most performed opera in North America, according to OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, and is often cited as the best opera for first-timers.
Eickel plays the title role, and has sung the role several times, including with the San Fransisco Lyric Opera and the Mobile Opera. Suzuki, Cio-Cio San’s servant, is sung by Leneida Crawford, who is an Associate Professor of Voice at Towson University in Baltimore. The other primary roles include Joshua Shaw as US Navy Lt. Pinkerton, baritone Kevin Kees as US Consul Sharpless, and David Cangelosi as Goro, the matchmaker.
The conductor is UAF’s own Professor Eduard Zilberkant, and UAF students and professors sing many of the smaller roles. The Whitestone Choir from Delta Junction joins UAF students and Fairbanks community members in the chorus.
George Rydlinski, with the Fairbanks Symphony Association, emphasized affordability: at $10 for a student ticket, he said, “it’s the best deal in town.”
In Sunday’s rehearsal, entrances were a chancy business, and much of the time was funneled into crowd control of the chorus, but the singing filled the concert hall. Even without the orchestra—just Professor Zilberkant hammering on the piano—the sound of lead vocalists and chorus together was almost overpowering.
Fairbanks has pulled some incredible singers this far north, and Friday and Sunday’s performances look to be well worthwhile.
Concerts are Apr. 4, at 7:00 pm, and Apr. 6, at 4:00 pm, both in the Davis Concert Hall. Tickets are $10 for students and children, $25 for seniors and military, and $30 for adults.