I’m taking a brief hiatus from my current column series on cheesecake to report on a spectacular event which I recently attended. I was one of 1,000 people who sat in the Summit High School auditorium awestruck at the united performance of the Westfield Symphony Orchestra, soloists from the New York Opera Society and the Summit High School Chorus in Madama Butterfly.
The Westfield Symphony Orchestra is in their second season of collaboration with their WSO SoundPartnerships © series. The orchestra merges their talents with those of other organizations in performances falling under this series.
David Wroe, Music Director and Conductor for the orchestra, harnessed the combined gifts of all three groups into one brilliant, moving, deep and heartfelt performance. The electricity in the auditorium that evening was evident. The excitement continued throughout the night. An added special bonus to me was the opportunity to listen to the Summit High School Chorus.
First, I think it’s so incredibly generous of these two organizations to share their spotlight with the chorus and extend the chance to this group of young men and women to be able to perform with them. Secondly, as someone who was a choral student back in high school, I was able to gaze through the looking glass at them and vicariously experience again the feelings which students feel when readying for a musical performance. I never had the chance in my choral career for such a performance gift as working with a professional symphony and opera company, and all I can say is what a blessing it was for these students.
Additionally, I was extremely impressed by the performance of the chorus. They held their own with the pros and their sound was absolutely heavenly…they reminded me of a chorus of angels. The students were beyond thrilled.
Just prior to the performance, I had run into a few of the young ladies outside the auditorium. They told me they were excited but nervous. I had the opportunity to speak with more of them during intermission. A few of the freshman who I spoke with said they were nervous in the beginning but their confidence level was increasing as the program progressed. I talked with juniors Katt Claypoole and Melanie Porras, and seniors Tim Lynch, Lulu Guerrero, Christine Conigliaro, and Katherine Grayeski.
"It’s a great experience to work with professional opera singers," said Lynch. Conigliaro said practicing alone with the piano was a different experience than working with the orchestra, and she was enjoying performing with the Westfield Symphony.
Paul Sears, Summit High School Principal and Wayne Mallette, the school’s Music Director for the last seven years, both stopped to speak with me. "It’s a wonderful opportunity for the students to be involved in something like this," said Sears, who hopes the school can team up with the Westfield Symphony again in the future. "The students have a new appreciation for opera and this exposes them to a wider range of music," said Mallette.
From the beginning of the show through the end, the audience was captivated not only by the musical performance but by the story, as well. One reason it was so fascinating in my view is that it is an Italian Opera performed to a primarily English- as-a-first-language audience in Italian Subtitles, and the events take place in Nagasaki Japan, circa 1890. Talk about a melding of languages, music, history and culture! For those who might like a modern-day equivalent of the story, I’d compare it to Miss Saigon, which I had the chance to see when it first came to Broadway. And my reaction to both was the same – I left the theater with tear-stained cheeks wiping my eyes because of the unfairness dealt to the heroine in each of these tragic love stories.
Giacomo Puccini based his three act opera on John Luther Long’s novel Madame Butterfly and Pierre Loti’s Madame Chrysanthème. The opera was revised from Puccini’s original version, which was in two acts. The first performance of the current version was held in Buenos Aires in 1904.
The performance by the Westfield Symphony Orchestra, New York Opera Society soloists and Summit High School Chorus was simple and exquisite, with the soloists performing in front of the orchestra and chorus with few and uncomplicated props. I believe the simplicity gave the audience the opportunity to focus on this combined talent reservoir.
The premise of the tragic tale seemed painfully familiar and real-life to some who watched it. Who hasn’t experienced the pangs of what Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly) has felt with love at one time in their life? A feeling of deception when one party has sincerely experienced love and it wasn’t taken seriously or reciprocated by the other? Sometimes love is not appreciated by the other party until they’ve realized what they’ve lost. That’s exactly what happened to Madama Butterfly, a fifteen year old innocent who was taken advantage of by a Naval Lieutenant, B.F. Pinkerton.
The roles of Madama Butterfly played by Korean born Yunah Lee, who has made it her signature role throughout the world; and Gaston Rivera, who also has an impressive heap of global credits under his belt, were perfectly cast. They both played their parts with such passion and immersion and, looking around at my fellow audience members, it was easy to see how lost they were in the performance.
Although enamored by the young woman, Pinkerton had the passion for collecting women, as well. While Butterfly’s feelings were genuine, his were misleading.
The accompanying music from the orchestra and the choral interjections by the Summit High School Chorus, added a subtle and beautiful touch. They were able to show Madama Butterfly’s strong emotions of love and joy through the music.
Madama Butterfly – "If a man catches a butterfly, he pierces it with a pin, and fixes it to a board."
B.F. Pinkerton – "So it can’t fly off."
Pinkerton enjoyed the hunt in capturing something so rare and beautiful. Once he had her in his possession, he took advantage of her naïveté and moved on. Yet, at the same time, he was naïve himself. While he thought there was no harm in marrying her even if she fell in love with him, he certainly was not the sharpest (meaning the smartest) tack that pinned her fragile wings.
While Pinkerton was nonchalantly traversing the world collecting women, Butterfly was pining for him, adapting her life and beliefs to suit his. Her family had disowned her, and she had given up what was essential in her culture, even adopting Pinkerton’s religion. Her devoted heart waited three years for his return, scanning each ship which entered into port while he had long since moved on to his next conquest.
Gustavo Ahualli was brilliantly sensitive as Sharpless the American Consul, an advocate for Pinkerton who feels horrible for how he has deceived Madama Butterfly. Hai-Ting Chinn, who was cast as Suzuki, was extremely moving in her role as the devoted maid who was a protective and trusting advisor to Madama. Young-Bok Kim as The Bonze who was a Buddhist Priest and Madama’s Uncle had a strong and overwhelming presence when he took to the stage. Goro, played by Brett Colby, was the marriage broker who introduced Butterfly to Pinkerton and then tried to arrange a marriage later for Butterfly with Yamadori, played by Kyungmook Yum. Both of these gentlemen held their own in mocking and analyzing Butterfly’s naïveté and lack of understanding in how she was duped by Pinkerton.
When asked by Sharpless what she would do if Pinkerton never returned, Butterfly gives herself an ultimatum. She said she would return to her work singing or even better, would die. She presented to Sharpless her child, a son named Dolore, played by Sebastian Wroe in his debut performance. Dolore’s presence onstage and how his mother loved and embraced him brought another heartfelt, yet tragic, element to the show.
The music grew darker and sad, from the Westfield Symphony, the underlying hum of the Summit High School Chorus and the depths of Madama Butterfly’s and the other singer’s vocals as she realized Pinkerton may have, in fact, forgotten her and their marriage was nothing more than a farce to him.
Pinkerton eventually did return, this time with his American wife, Kate Pinkerton, played by New York Opera Society’s Executive Director Jennifer Cho. Nearly until the end, Madama Butterfly’s childlike heart convinced her that Pinkerton had returned to see her. She held vigil throughout the night, dressed as the day when they married, and Pinkerton was a no-show. Sharpless conferred with Suzuki after she saw an unknown woman in Butterfly’s garden, and they realize Butterfly’s child must return home with Pinkerton under the circumstances. Butterfly awakens and deduces from Suzuki that Pinkerton was not coming for her, puts two and two together when she sees Kate, who is seeking her forgiveness, and tells Kate she will not give up the child unless Pinkerton comes himself.
In the climatic final moments, Butterfly shares touching scenes with her son which, as a mother myself, brought a lump in my throat, especially when asking Dolore to remember her face as it was at that moment. I looked at my fellow audience members, also mesmerized and gripping on to the last scene, especially during the dramatic pauses from the vocals and orchestra.
Butterfly kisses her son goodbye, takes him from the room and then plunges a knife into herself. Pinkerton is heard yelling "Butterfly!" from offstage. The audience in the Summit High School Auditorium then rose for a standing ovation with boisterous cheers of "bravo" for all of the performers.
It was truly an amazing performance which moved hearts and left the audience talking. I’m looking forward to the Westfield Symphony’s upcoming performances. Their next one is the Halloween Event on October 24th back at the Westfield Presbyterian Church. This is a screening of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, set to music in the non-musical dramatic sequences by Music Director and Conductor David Wroe. A costume contest will take place, adding to the Halloween ambience.
For more information about the Westfield Symphony Orchestra and for tickets to their upcoming performances, see their website: http://www.westfieldsymphony.org/ or call: 908-232-9400.
Photo: Yunah Lee as Madama Butterfly. Photo by Jennifer Jean Miller.