The first Italian-born conductor to take on Anthony Minghella’s production of Italian opera favourite Madam Butterfly has defended its being sung in English.
Purists insist work should be performed in the language in which it was written.
But Gianluca Marciano said translation helped many audiences to connect with the performance.
Making his debut at English National Opera with Giacomo Puccini’s popular love story, Marciano, 36, said he was excited to hear the characters of American officer Pinkerton and US consul Sharpless in their own language. “The translation responds very well to the musical line of Puccini. It works extremely well,” he said. The ENO production by film-maker Minghella, first seen in 2005, was amazing, he added.
“What Minghella did so well was keep the real and original meaning but it’s also so innovative. Opera needs that otherwise there is a risk it could die,” he said. This will be the fifth revival of Minghella’s Madam Butterfly — his only opera before his death aged 54 in 2008.
It tells the story of a Japanese woman — Butterfly — who falls in love with Pinkerton, before he abandons her for an American wife. Dina Kuznetsova takes the title role when it returns tonight, with Timothy Richards as Pinkerton and George von Bergen as Sharpless.
Performances until December 1.
