Featuring Mirella Freni, Placido Domingo, and Christa Ludwig
145 minutes; Deutsche Grammophone DVD
Good singing, poor staging. The director filmed this like a movie and the finished product is somewhat odd to watch, with Placido Domingo chewing gum through much of the first half(even while singing) and voices singing while the characters are doing something else. An interesting note, though. It started out as a plain recording with the same people except Pavarotti instead of Domingo. When they decided to make a film out of it, they recorded Placido Domingo’s part and spliced it into the recording, replacing Pavarotti, then the performers lip-synced to the recording during filming. This is a phenomenal recording of “Madame Butterfly” and Mirella Freni shines in one of her greatest roles. Well worth listening to, just turn the television screen off.
