Madame Butterfly in Concert

After seeing Miss Saigon earlier in the year I was keen to see the Opera version which tells a similar story. The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra were involved in this ‘opera in concert’ performance for one night only. The Auckland town hall was packed with people of all ages all eager to see the performance. The cast members stood at the front of the stage singing into microphones while a small chorus sat at the back of the stage. The cast were fantastic, and for those of us who don’t speak any language than English and weren’t entirely sure what was going on the translation was put onto a screen for all to follow the story.


Although I enjoyed the concert as a whole, it was Svetlana Katchour playing Cio-Cio-San that really took my breath away. From her first entrance in a wedding dress right through to her suicide at the end, her stage presence, her ability to act the part wholeheartedly while standing on the spot and most importantly her incredible voice made the concert something truly memorable.

The only thing I could really comment on is that I feel they could have used a real child to be ‘Madame Butterfly’s’ son. Instead they used a photo and pretended the child was there before them.

The story overall was heartbreaking, more so than Miss Saigon (as Kim is truly loved by Chris in Miss Saigon), however Madame Butterfly is never truly loved by her ‘husband’ and despite her waiting year after year, he does not care enough to return until the knowledge that a child exists. There were times that I had to blink back the tears due to the harsh reality that everyone knew Madame Butterfly was about to meet.

This concert was a one night only event, however if you ever get the chance to see the opera performance of it, don’t miss out, particularly if you’re an opera lover.