Rating: 
Summary: SAD BUT BEAUTIFUL
Review: This is the one of the best operas ever written. And this is the one of the oldest tragedies ever known.
Rating:
Summary: Un be di vedremo...
Review: This is THE production of Madame Butterfly! Pinkerton does a great job of making you hate him! Ying Huang is SO beautiful! Sometimes she even looks even YOUNGER than 15! And her bell-like voice, although it can lose its operatic quality, is still breathtakingly beautiful! She has the girlish beauty and voice for Butterfly, and gives a heartbreakingly sad performance. Ning Liang is EXCELLENT as Suzuki! Shes also really pretty and has an AMAZING mezzo-soprano! Goro, so often portrayed as this bumbling idiot, is portrayed for what he is, a cruel, cynical villain. Even Kate Pinkerton has a touch of cruelty when she first appears. The Bonzes portrayal of flying in is the only weak point. It looks SO cheesy! It is supposed to be one of the saddest moments and yet it just ruins it. Oh well. The end is especially heart- wrenching! She hears Pinkerton calling to her after she has stabbed herself and she tries to get back up(that part just really makes you tear up!)and then she dies in his arms. Can you sit through that and not cry? Buy this beautiful movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Scorsese's Butterfly
Review: This production overall is very good. However I need to put in a tone of regret coming from faviorate recordings such as Tucker/Leinsdorf, Callas/Serifin, etc. I certainly don't feel like I waested my money and right now there are only 2-3 choices on the market for this opera - and can you believe still no DVD! Here are a few of my observations: The singing bounces between pretty good and average. There really isn't anything special about any of these singers, with the exception of Sharpless (very good). For the most part, they do their jobs and they do them well and thats that. James Conlon does a good job with the Orchestra De Paris, however his tempi are very much on the fast side. Great directing, however for an opera that for the most part nicely goes right by the book - there are some details that are omiss (so I don't ruin the movie, I'll just tell you what does not happen - you will have to buy it to see what they do instead): Butterfly does not sit the child on a stool with an American flag and a doll - the sound of the knife falling isn't there, Butterfly does not in a dying fit gropingly crawl twards the child, and Pinkerton and Sharpless don't run in and find her dead. If your not an opera buff it probably won't bother you. I do recomend this movie, but I'm sure that very soon there will be better alternatives.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: This was an excellent opera, and I love having it on tape to watch whenever I want. The story is so touching and the music is haunting. You have GOT to see this.
Rating:
Summary: Cheers for F. Mitterrand
Review: When considering the characteristics of opera, it naturally follows that the genre would be difficult to film. Not so for Mitterrand with his Madame Butterfly; from casting to direction to filming, Mitterrand wins. The title role must do far more than "look Asian," she must also live the role...even more so when being filmed as "Butterfly." Ying Huang proves herself a sensitive and sensible actress as well as a singer with an expressive and powerful voice. Richard Troxell as "B. F. Pinkerton" shines in his role, allowing the callousness of his character clash with an accidental love. Troxell uses the flexibility of the film medium to act as many opera singers seem unable to do upon finding themselves on a stage. In fact, the power of this video lies in the fact that the singers realize that they have the opportunity to be better actors than they could be in a staged version of the same work. There are retakes, more natural positions, beautiful scenery, and an amazing acoustic, even when outdoors! All in all,it is a fine work by Frederic Mitterand, Huang, Troxell, Cowan ("Sharpless"), Liang ("Suzuki"), and the rest. None of the roles had less than an accomplished actor and singer; even the role of "Kate Pinkerton" played by Constance Hauman was rendered with a delicate hand aware of a conflicting position and an involuntary hostility. Enjoyable for the everyday opera viewer as a fresh, beautiful feast for the eye and ear, and a first-rate film for the opera newcomer.
Rating: 
Summary: Madama Butterfly @Arena di Verona - Maurizio Arena conductor
Review: While the singing is generally superb, the acting is not very good. The costuming is not hardly recognizable as Japanese and the American costuming is much more British styling than the United States. Lieut. Pinkerton was more interested in playing to the camera than he was in becoming involved with Cho-Cho San (Madama Butterfly). Raina as Madama Butterfly did a good job in spite of a very poor job of makeup. The hairdo was anything but what a self respecting Japanese girl would wear. The widow's peak would be more appropriate for a Samurai warrior than a lady. It still brought tears and memories when she sang "One Fine Day". Most of the subtitles were unreadable since they were all in white and frequently against a white background. I would give the orchestra and conductor good marks and many of the singers, but the women walked like europeans, not with the tiny minced steps of a Japanese lady of that period. Fortunately, I have heard enough operas sung in Italian that I was able to follow the main theme of the opera. I should have bought the other Madame Butterfly which was advertised (for less money, yet), but it had no reviews and I foolishly trusted the reviews of the people who had seen this one.
Rating:
Summary: Mme. Butterfly is simply brilliant!
Review: Yes, Madame Butterfly is great; and yes, Mme. Butterfly is a tearjerker; and yes, it is also an opera. Not once have I ever seen something written as well that fits into all of these categories. I loved this movie, and I hope you do too! It it absolutely wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: You can see that Scorcese was involved here. Dramatic - nicely paced. A truly great introduction to someone who is new to opera. I can guarantee anyone who reads this that if you send this as a gift to anyone who has a romantic sense and a love for melody that they will love it.
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