Musica Viva：PUCCINI - Madama Butterfly 非凡美樂《普契尼：蝴蝶夫人》

Musica Viva：PUCCINI - Madama ButterflyMadama Butterfly, like Giacomo Puccini’s previous blockbuster Tosca, was born out a visit to the theatre. In 1900, the composer was in London for six weeks to oversee the opening of Tosca at Covent Garden on 12 July, when he was persuaded to go to the Duke of York’s Theatre for a double-bill of one act plays, including one called “Madam Butterfly”.Puccini could speak little of anything except Italian, yet although he could hardly understand a word, he burst into tears. Once the curtain came down, he hurried backstage and begged the American playwright David Belasco to let him to turn the play into an opera.Or so Belasco recounted a few years later. He agreed immediately, he said, because “it was impos­si­ble to dis­cuss arrange­ments with an impul­sive Ital­ian who has tears in his eyes and both of his arms around your neck.”It took almost four years, until February 1904, for this story of this ill-fated East-West romance to debut as an opera at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. It did not go well: a “fiasco”, in fact, with hissing and mockery. Puccini immediately withdrew the score.The composer undertook substantial revisions, and re-introduced the opera a few months later at Brescia where it was received with audience demands for seven encores and 32 curtain calls. The next year Madame Butterfly was back in London, this time as an opera. In 1907, after some other revisions, it opened at New York’s Metropolitan Opera with the composer himself in attendance. Madama Butterfly has rarely if ever left the hearts of opera-goers in the 111 years since.The story’s origins in fact reach back a decade or so earlier to 1887 and the loosely-autobiographical novel Madame Chrysanthème by Frenchman Pierre Loti, in which a young naval officer enters into a temporary marriage with a geisha while stationed in Nagasaki.France, of course, had been in the throes of japonisme for a couple of decades by then; kimonos, fans, lacquerware, silks and bronzes had begun flooding into Europe, affecting popular taste and culture. The French impressionists had begun collecting Japanese woodcuts. Vincent van Gogh was painting oils under the influence of these Japanese prints as Loti’s novel hit the street.The immediate success of MadameChrysanthème meant that it was soon translated into English and, by 1893, adapted into an opera by André Messager. Messager was not the first French composer with an Japanese-themed opera: Camille Saint-Saëns’s La princesse jaune premiered in 1872. In other countries, Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta The Mikado dates from 1885 and Italy’s Pietro Mascagni’s Iris came along in 1898.But the direct antecedent for Puccini’s opera was, however, not a cultural import into Europe but an eponymous story by American lawyer John Luther Long, published in Century Magazine in 1898. Although reportedly based on recollections of his sister Jennie, the wife of a Methodist Episcopal missionary in Japan, the similarity in the plots indicate that Long must have known of Loti’s earlier work. Nevertheless, it was Long who introduced the world to Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton and thus was, via the dramatic intermediary of Belasco’s play, the source of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.The opera opens when American naval officer Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton finds himself in Nagasaki for a long layover. To amuse himself, he buys himself a house and a 15-year-old wife, both on flexible terms, renewable monthly. The American Consul Sharpless, who is of a certain age, tries to warns him that the girl is taking it all completely seriously — she has even converted to Christianity. Pinkerton waves it off, proposing instead to drink to the day of his “proper wedding” to a “real American wife”.The wedding ceremony collapses as Butterfly’s uncle, a local priest, shows up uninvited and curses her for renouncing her traditions. But Puccini ends the first Act ends with one of the most beautiful love duets in opera: maybe, we dare to hope, Pinkerton loves her after all.Whether he does or not, the trajectory of his life and career are immutable. His ship leaves and Butterfly waits… with a small, blond son of whom Pinkerton is ignorant. Pinkerton, of course, does return, three years later, but not alone, leading to what may be the most heart-rending ending in musical theatre.It’s hard to deny that Madama Butterfly is an exercise in orientalism: Asia seen through Western eyes. It is less clear, however, whether this is the ethnocentrism of which the opera is sometimes accused or a dramatic device. The accusation is usually based on the work’s perceived portrayal of Cio-cio-san—Madama Butterfly—as a submissive reinforcement of racial stereotypes. Opera, however, has no shortage of self-sacrificing, put-upon women—Gilda in Rigoletto, the eponymous Luisa Miller and Suor Angelica, Marguerite in Faust, none of whom are Asian. And Puccini’s other Asian heroine—Turandot—is anything but submissive.There is little doubt that Pinkerton has internalized these orientalist stereotypes. He makes no secret of them. But it remains a leap to assume that the composer himself concurred. Indeed, in the portrayal of Pinkerton as almost a caricature of the expat white male in Asia, entitled and self-centred, one might read an anti-Western, anti-imperialist message. Even the more thoughtful Sharpless colludes with a shrug, only expressing serious disapproval when it is becomes clear that that “damned Pinkerton” has left him with a #MeToo mess to clean up.It’s worth remembering here that Madama Butterfly is unusually set in what was, for those first audiences, the “present day”: the opera was meant to be happening as they watched. And in the original La Scala version, Pinkerton is even more obviously odious, making snide remarks about his new in-laws and denied the aria of regretful self-awareness, “Addio fiorito asil”, that he now has in Act III; he is left telling the US Consul Sharpless to give Butterfly money.It is Cio-Cio San that has inspired numerous spin-offs in musicals, theatre, film and literature. Who is she? Is she a naive, delicate creature “off a Japanese screen”, as Pinkerton would have it, deceived and broken like the butterflies she worries Westerners stick with a pin? Or might she instead be only one of the three with any spine, a young woman who knowingly breaks with tradition fully aware of the possible consequences? One can watch the opera time and again and never know for certain.It might just be that Madama Butterfly, despite Puccini’s incorporation of actual Japanese melodies for musical verisimilitude, isn’t about Japan at all. It might instead be about a young mother having to make the hardest sacrifice imaginable: giving up her child in the face of social pressure. Puccini returned to this theme a few years later in Suor Angelica which, while set in a convent, perhaps isn’t about nuns either.Madama Butterfly can have particular resonance when performed in Asia where it can cut particularly close to the bone. Here, the story is less exotic than typical.A brand-new production of one of the world’s most successful and popular operas, “Madama Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini, will be presented by Musica Viva at the Hong Kong City Hall for 4 performances during 7-9 December 2018. The production will be conducted by the world-renowned young maestro Lio Kuokman, a prize-winning conductor nurtured in Hong Kong and trained in the United States, who is currently enjoying a brilliant international career. The staging of the opera will be executed by Hong Kong’s own prolific and original creative theatre director Lo Kingman, long recognised and respected internationally for his refined and exquisite interpretations of great masterpieces. These performances feature two first rate international casts with all the oriental character sung by Asian artists with ag all the western roles undertaken by American singer. The title role of Butterfly will be shared by famous Metropolitan Opera artist Lee Sang-Eun and sensational new star Lee Myung Joo who interpreted the part in Royal Albert Hall of London, both hailed from Seoul in Korea. Two top racking lyric tenors Dominick Chenes and Jeffrey Hartman will alternate as the American naval officer Pinkerton. Altogether over 150 professional artists, singers, musicians, choristers and theatre practitioners will collaborate a on bringing this moving tragic story of exceptional beauty for your enjoyment and appreciation.SynopsisACT I1900, a small house on a hill at Nagsaki, Japan, overlooking the city and harbourOn a terrace above Nagasaki harbour, Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton inspects the house he has leased from a marriage broker, Goro, who has procured him a geisha wife known as Butterfly. To American Consul Sharpless, Pinkerton describes his carefree philosophy of pleasure. For the moment, he is enchantedwith the fragile Butterfly and intends to go through a marriage ceremony with her. When Sharpless warns that the girl may not take her vows lightly, the Lieutenant brushes aside such scruples, adding that he will one day take a ‘real’ American wife. At that moment Butterfly is heard in the distance joyouslysinging of her wedding day. On arrival, surrounded by her friends, she tells Pinkerton how, when her family fell on hard times, she had to earn her living as a geisha. Soon her relatives arrive and noisily express their opinions on the marriage. When she finds a quiet moment, Butterfly shows her bridegroomher few earthly treasures, telling him that she has adopted his Christian faith. With much pomp and dignity, the Imperial Commissioner performs the wedding ceremony, after which the guests toast the couple. Suddenly Butterfly’s uncle Bonzo, a high priest, bursts upon the scene, cursing the girl for havingrenounced her ancestor’s religion. Pinkerton angrily orders the priest and family to leave. Alone with the bride, he dries her tears and reminds her that night is falling. Helped by her maid Suzuki into a pure white kimono, Butterfly joins the ardent Pinkerton in the garden, where they sing of their love.ACT IIThree years later, Butterfly’s HouseThree years later, Butterfly still waits for her husband’s return. As Suzuki prays to her gods for aid, her mistress has her eyes fixed on the harbour. The maid urges Butterfly to remarry, for Pinkerton will never return. Butterfly asserts her faith: one fine day his ship will appear on the horizon. The Consul comes with a letter from Pinkerton, but before he can read it to Butterfly, Goro brings the latest suitor for her hand. The girl dismisses both him and the wealthy Prince Yamadori, insisting that her American husband has not deserted her. When they are alone, Sharpless again starts to read her the letter, suggesting as tactfully as he can that Pinkerton may never return. Butterfly proudly carries forth their child, insisting that as soon as Pinkerton knows of his son, he will surely come back. Moved by her devotion and lacking the heart to tell her of Pinkerton’s remarriage, Sharpless leaves. Butterfly hears a cannon shot; seizing a spyglass, she discovers Pinkerton’s ship entering the harbour. Delirious with joy, she and Suzuki strew the house with flower petals. Then, as night falls, she dons her wedding gown and, with her son and Suzuki, waits for her husband’s return.ACT IIINext morning, Butterfly’s HouseAs dawn breaks, Suzuki insists that Butterfly rests. Humming a lullaby to her child, she carries him to another room. Before long, Sharpless, Pinkerton and then Kate, his new wife, enter. When Suzuki realizes the truth, she collapses in despair. Out of consideration for her mistress, however, she agrees to break the news to her. Pinkerton is overcome with remorse, bids farewell to the scene of his former happiness, then rushes away. No sooner is he gone then Butterfly comes forth, expecting to find him but finding Kate instead. She takes but a moment to guess the truth. Leaning on Suzuki for support, she agrees to give up her child if the father will return for him. Then sending Suzuki away, she takes a dagger and bows before a statue of Buddha. Just as she raises the blade, Suzuki pushes the child into the room. Tearfully sobbing a farewell to him, Butterfly sends him out to play. Then, she stabs herself. Pinkerton’s voice is heard in the distance calling her name.CastSylvia Sang-eun Lee as ButterflyDominick Chenes as B.F. PinkertonCarol Lin as SuzukiIssac Droscha as SharplessBo Wang as GoroFreddie Tong as BonzoMichelle Lange as Kate PinkertonSammy Chien as CommissionerSamuel Wong as Marriage RegistrarCreative TeamLio Kuokman - Music Director / ConductorLo Kingman - Producer / DirectorIssac Wong - Set DesignerAndrew Cheung - Costume DesignerPeter Li - Lighting DesignerLesley Chan - Chorus MasterLeung Siu Kwan - Assistant Chorus MistressYuh Egami - ChoreographerAlexander Wong - RépétiteurMing Kwong - RépétiteurNatalia Tokar - Répétiteur非凡美樂《普契尼：蝴蝶夫人》《蝴蝶夫人》和普契尼一鳴驚人的《托斯卡》一樣，是普契尼到劇院看過戲劇後而面世的歌劇。

作曲家於一九零零年到倫敦六星期，協助排演在七月十二日於皇家歌劇院上演的《托斯卡》時，獲邀到約克公爵劇院欣賞兩齣獨幕劇，其中一齣便是《蝴蝶夫人》。普契尼除意大利文外，其他語言並不流利，儘管他難以理解片言隻字，他也感動流淚。並於落幕時趕往後台，向美國劇作家貝拉斯高求取改編歌劇的版權。貝拉斯高當時是立刻答允的，他於數年後憶述說：要與一個雙眼含淚、雙手擁着你的熱情意大利人磋商是不可能的。改編工作歷時近四年之久，這個凄美的東西方愛情故事於一九零四年二月在米蘭史拉加歌劇院首演。首演並不如理想，在一片喧嘩謾罵中，慘敗收場。普契尼立即取消米蘭隨後的演出。

作曲家隨即着手作出大幅修改，歌劇並於數月後在布雷西亞城再度上演，觀眾要求七次加演重唱及三十二次謝幕，大獲成功。這故事可追朔到由法國作家羅逖於一八八七年所寫的自傳式小說《菊夫人》，當中描述年輕的海軍軍官在日本長崎駐守時，與一名藝妓的短暫婚姻。當時的法國深受日本美學影響；和服、紙扇、漆木、絲綢及銅器等充斥歐洲，影響着大眾的風味和文化。法國的印象主義者都紛紛收藏日本的木刻。如羅逖的小說一樣，梵高的畫風亦受到日本浮世繪所影響。《菊夫人》的成功，意味着它很快便會有英文譯本。法國作曲家梅薩傑於一八九三年將故事改編成歌劇。

梅薩傑並不是首位法國作曲家把日本題材寫成歌劇：聖桑的《黃衣公主》於一八七二年首演。其他國家的有：一八八五年英國吉伯特與薩利文的《日本天皇》和一八九八年意大利馬斯卡尼的《伊麗絲》等。

然而，普契尼的歌劇或許並不是取材自進口歐洲的異文化，而是美國律師隆恩於一八九八年在世紀雜誌刊登的同名著作。著作雖是根據其妹妹珍尼，憶述和丈夫於日本宣教時的故事，但故事的相同之處，顯示隆恩應讀過羅逖的早期作品。無論如何，是隆恩把蝴蝶和平克頓介紹給世界，透過貝拉斯高的戲劇推介，成為普契尼《蝴蝶夫人》的創作來源。歌劇開始時，美藉海軍軍官平克頓在長崎留守。為了自娛，他買了一所房子和一位十五歲的妻子，條款靈活，逐月延期更新。世故的美國領事夏普列斯試着警告他那女子重視婚姻承諾 — 還改信基督教。平克頓不予理會，並說有一天他將另娶「真正」的美國妻子。

婚禮被蝴蝶的長輩坊主的突然到訪打斷，他斥責蝴蝶背棄傳統。但普契尼以最美的愛情二重唱結束第一幕：或許我們都盼望，平克頓到最後也是愛着她的。不論是與否，平克頓的生命和前途是不可變的。他隨船離開，蝴蝶帶着被平克頓遺棄的金髮孩子苦候他歸來。三年後，平克頓終於歸來，但並不是獨自一人，因而帶出了音樂劇場內令人心碎的一幕。很難否認《蝴蝶夫人》是東方主義下從西方人眼中看亞洲所產生的作品。不大清楚究竟這歌劇是對民族主義的控訴抑或是戲劇的橋段。控訴大都基於劇中把蝴蝶描寫成在封建制度下順服的附屬品。

歌劇從不缺少自我犧牲或是受盡拆磨的女角，如《弄臣》中的吉爾達、《露易莎．米勒》和《修女安潔麗卡》中的同名角色及《浮士德》中的瑪格烈特等，但沒有一個是亞洲人。普契尼的另一位亞洲烈女，就是決不屈服於人前的杜蘭朵。令人懷疑的是平克頓內在有着東方的封建思想，而從不忌諱。這是否如作曲家所想的，還有待證實。實際上，平克頓被刻劃成一個醜化了的外藉白人男子，在亞洲享有特權、自我中心。這或可閱讀成一個反西方、反帝國主義的訊息。就算是體貼的夏普列斯，也是個聳聳肩膀的同謀，當知道「該死的平克頓」把爛攤子留給他收拾時，他只是表示反對而已。

值得一記的是《蝴蝶夫人》並不經常如首演時一樣，把時間設定為「當代」：歌劇只是觀眾們當下看到正在發生的事。在史拉加歌劇院的原版中，平克頓更為可憎，不單對新親友們揶揄，亦沒有現今第三幕裡後悔自省的詠嘆調「別了，充滿鮮花的家」；他只告訴美國領事夏普列斯給蝴蝶送金錢便轉身離去了。蝴蝶這角色啟發了無數音樂劇、劇場、電影和文學上的後續。她是誰？她是天真嬌弱、跳出了日本風情畫，被平克頓看中的美女，還是一隻被騙了又擔心自己如標本一樣被西方人釘着的蝴蝶？又或她是三個人之中，唯一有骨氣的年輕女子，擔起所有背棄宗族傳統帶來的後果？人們能把歌劇一看再看，但都沒法得出肯定答案。

不管普契尼結合了真正的日本旋律以達到其音樂上的寫實主義，除了「蝴蝶夫人」這個元素之外，整套歌劇並非講述日本。故事可以是講述一個年輕母親將要作出最艱難的犧牲：因社會壓力而被逼放棄親兒。普契尼在數年後於《修女安潔麗卡》中再用到這個題材，場景雖然設於修院，但或許也並不是講述修女的故事。《蝴蝶夫人》在亞洲上演總能讓人產生共鳴，像是切膚之痛。到這裡，故事少了異國風情，看起來更獨特一點吧。非凡美樂上演全新的《蝴蝶夫人》製作，指揮將由世界著名的廖國敏擔任，並由香港的原創劇場導演盧景文呈獻。蝴蝶夫人將由著名的大都會歌劇藝術家李相恩和新星李明珠共同演繹。

兩位頂級抒情歌手Dominick Chenes和Jeffrey Hartman將擔任美國海軍軍官平克頓。超過150名專業藝術家，歌唱家，音樂家和戲劇從業者將合作將這個動人的悲劇故事獻上，讓您細心享受和欣賞。劇情大綱第一幕在長崎港一個山上，美國海軍上尉平克頓正巡視他從婚姻掮客五郎租回來的新居。五郎介紹一位名叫蝴蝶的藝妓女子作他的妻子。平克頓對著美國領事夏普列斯暢談他盡情歡樂的人生哲學。他見過蝴蝶，深深地被她的美貌吸引著，更加強與她結婚的意念。夏普列斯警告他說日本女子重視婚姻的承諾，勸他不要如此狂妄。

平克頓不理會勸告，並補充說有一天他將另娶「真正」的美國妻子。這時蝴蝶歡欣的歌聲從遠而至，在朋友的簇擁下來到屋前，蝴蝶告訴平克頓她當藝妓的經過，完全是因為家境衰落的緣故。不久，她的親人到來，大家七嘴八舌地發表對這椿婚事的意見。趁著大家都靜下來的時間，蝴蝶向平克頓展示她僅有的財物，並透露已為平克頓而改信基督教。在熱鬧的婚禮中，平克頓和蝴蝶由御吏作見證，結為夫妻，賓客們舉杯祝賀。喜宴中，蝴蝶的長輩坊主突然來臨，斥責她不應為此異國人而叛教。平克頓憤怒地命令坊主及眾人離去。蝴蝶傷心而泣，平克頓溫柔地安慰她，並替她抹乾淚水。

暮色四合，在女僕鈴木的幫助下，蝴蝶穿上一襲純白色的和服與熱情的平克頓漫步在灑滿星光的庭院裏表達彼此的愛意。第二幕三年後，蝴蝶仍默默地等待丈夫重回她的懷抱。鈴木在菩薩像前為女主人祈禱，蝴蝶則目不轉睛地望著海港。鈴木勸蝴蝶再婚，因為平克頓不會再來。蝴蝶卻以堅毅無比的信心回答鈴木，並說在一個晴朗的日子裏，平克頓的船艦將在水平線上重現。美國領事帶來平克頓的信給蝴蝶，但未及告知蝴蝶信中內容，掮客五郎帶了一個富豪山鳥大人來向蝴蝶求婚，蝴蝶以有夫之婦的身分，對他們置之不理，並堅持她的美籍丈夫絕不會拋棄她。

當二人離去後，夏普列斯把信讀出，並問她如果平克頓離棄她時將何以處之。蝴蝶驕傲地把他倆的愛情結晶品抱了過來，說當平克頓知道他有個兒子時，他肯定會重回她身旁。夏普列斯受了蝴蝶真情的感動，不忍心把平克頓再婚的消息向她透露，結果悄然離去。蝴蝶忽然聽到港內傳來炮聲，急取望遠鏡眺望，見到平克頓的船艦回來了。蝴蝶歡欣若狂，與鈴木把全屋散滿鮮花。夜幕低垂，蝴蝶穿上結婚時穿的禮服，與她的兒子和僕人鈴木等候丈夫的歸來。第三幕天亮了，鈴木勸蝴蝶回房休息。蝴蝶一面哼著搖籃曲，一面抱著兒子回房。不久，夏普列斯、平克頓和他的新婚妻子凱蒂來到。當鈴木了解實情後，失望得幾乎崩潰了。

為了替女主人著想，鈴木答應用委婉的方法把這件事向蝴蝶揭露。平克頓心中充滿悔意，向溫馨的回憶道別。平克頓走後，蝴蝶衝了出來，她看不到心上人，卻見領事與一個陌生美國女人，她立刻明白這是怎麼一回事。蝴蝶答應交出兒子，只要孩子的父親回來帶走他。蝴蝶把鈴木差遣離去，取出一把匕首跪在佛像面前。當蝴蝶正要持劍自刎之時，鈴木讓兒子走進來。她哀傷地向小孩訣別，著他到外面去玩耍，然後刺項自盡。遠處傳來平克頓喚著蝴蝶的呼聲。

演員李尚恩 : 蝴蝶車尼士 : 平克頓赫德曼 : 平克頓連皓忻 : 鈴木杜洛沙 : 夏普列斯王博 : 五郎唐景端 : 坊主蘭芝 : 凱蒂錢深銘 : 御吏王俊謙 : 婚姻註冊官藝術指導廖國敏 - 音樂總監/指揮盧景文 - 監製/導演王梓駿 - 佈景設計張浩然 - 服裝設計李炳強 - 燈光設計陳家曦 - 合唱指導梁笑君 - 助理合唱指導江上悠 - 編舞黃歷琛 - 練唱指導鄺銘熙 - 練唱指導納塔利亞．托卡 - 練唱指導