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Opera review: M. Butterfly, The Barbican

The UK premiere performance of Huang Ruo’s modern opera receives a mixed reception.
In the production of 'M. Butterfly', a singer, Kangmin Justin Kim, is dressed in a red and white kimono. She is facing Mark Stone, who is wearing a white jacket suit.

There was a surprisingly modest audience at Barbican Hall for the UK premiere performance of Huang Ruo’s modern opera M. Butterfly. And, among those, the reception was decidedly mixed. The lady next to this reviewer slept through most of the second act, while the couple on the other side whispered loudly to each other and scrolled through their phones. The chatter over interval bubbles can be summed up as “I would have preferred Puccini”. The closing applause was polite.

We all accept that there are concerns with the central narrative of Madama Butterfly with its politics and misogyny, but it is a piece of its period and saved by memorable characters and a brilliant score. Even so, Opera Australia ‘retired’ its superb production of Madama Butterfly back in 2017 and many companies are now sadly reluctant to include it in their repertoire. 

Some 35 years ago, playwright David Henry Hwang took the bones of the story and created the play M. Butterfly. Hwang based his play on the curious (real life) case of a French diplomat caught up in an espionage scandal in Mao’s China. 

The play was a hit, enjoying huge success on Broadway with close to 800 performances and a 10-month run here in the West End. It was adapted for the screen, somewhat less successfully, in 1993 with Jeremy Irons in the lead. 

This operatic reworking has a libretto by the original playwright and music by Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo. The production was originally created by New Mexico’s Santa Fe Opera where it was well-received. 

The music itself is definitely worth a listen, with traditional orchestral instruments complemented by some Chinese percussion. Conductor Carolyn Kuan ensured a measured account by the BBC Symphony Orchestra who were on top form. The voices of the BBC Singers added warmth to the score, especially in the ethereal ‘humming chorus’. 

As a semi-staged production, with original direction by James Robinson and Kimberley Prescott as revival director, there was no set and minimal use of props. The black-clad stagehands did their best to be discreet, but it was distracting to have them coming on and off stage just to move a coffee table or adjust the chaise longue. The big screen above the stage did the heavy lifting in setting the scene with an effective use of projected images designed by Greg Emetaz.

The opera opens with French diplomat René Gallimard in prison for espionage. English helden baritone Mark Stone sang this role back in its world premiere, so it’s no surprise that he was in total command on the Barbican Hall stage. As the story (slowly) unfolds, we discover that it all hinges on Gallimard’s long-standing relationship with singer Song Liling, played here with exceptional feeling by Korean-American countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim who also starred in the Santa Fe production. Their duets were by far the strongest moments in the show. 

Despite their intimacy, Gallimard apparently fails to realise that ‘she’ is actually a ‘he’ and never really addresses the obvious questions about his own sexuality until the very last moments. These themes of gender fluidity and sexuality are now so familiar that they are no longer shocking or dramatic in their own right. It’s only in the tragic final scene that Gallimard fully admits, to himself and to us, that he too is Madama Butterfly. 

The remaining singers in the ensemble cast were strong. Singaporean-British mezzo soprano Fleur Barron especially shone in her dual roles of Comrade Chin and Shu Fung.

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There were some beautiful moments here, and the principals brought real humanity to these complex and flawed characters, but ultimately M. Butterfly is just hard work for the audience. The libretto is awkward and didactic and the score often feels colourless and somehow out of touch with the storyline. Where are the grand arias and soaring lines of Puccini when you need them?  

M. Butterfly
Barbican Hall

Composer: Huang Ruo
Librettist: David Henry Hwang
BBC Symphony Orchestra with Carolyn Kuan conductor and BBC Singers
Director: James Robinson
Revival Director: Kimberly Prescott
Stage Designer: Allen Moyer

Costume Designer: James Schuette
Original Production Lighting Designer: Christopher Akerlind
Projections Designer: Greg Emetaz
Cast: Kangmin Justin Kim, Mark Stone, Fleur Barron, Kevin Burdette, Charne Rochford, Ciara Hendrick, Peter Davoren

M. Butterfly was performed for one night only on 25 October at Barbican Hall 2024; the performance will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 9 November.

Dr Diana Carroll is a writer, speaker, and reviewer currently based in London. Her work has been published in newspapers and magazines including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Woman's Day and B&T. Writing about the arts is one of her great passions.