The atmosphere knob was turned all the way to "party" Saturday night at the Civic Center. We stopped by at the Madame Butterfly simulcast 15 minutes before tip-off, and found the square full of a joyful crowd. Where a few saw a half-empty glass of cool, windy weather and stayed home, quite many -- by the opera's count, there were 8,000 people -- saw an opportunity: no need to bring ice to chill the chardonnay. We were fortunate to have a toasty seat waiting for us inside the War Memorial Opera House, but this was a huge success, and we can safely predict more of these events in the future. As always, check out Civic Center for coverage of the plaza. David Gockley, in a few introductory words, reminded us that the first production of the Opera, in 1922, was held outside, at Stanford stadium in front of 15,000. Were they allowed to bring wine there too?

As for the 3,000 inside, they were treated to a glorious show. Madame Butterfly is a crowd pleaser, as far as tragedies go, and this production came up with a recipe for success: take a solid cast, a no-non-sense set, great lightings, and the steady conducting of the orchestra, and let Puccini do the rest.

Patricia Racette led the cast as the former geisha Cio-cio-san, ie. Mrs. Butterfly, who marries B.F. Pinkerton, an American officer staying in Nagasaki. We last saw her as a debutante in upper New-York state, and here she was, all dark haired and kimono wearing. She was absolutely splendid throughout, dominating the stage with ease. Cio-cio-san carries the opera, and never leaves the stage after her entrance in Act I. Racette never faltered. She took us through an emotional roller-coaster: love, happiness, hope, delusion, betrayal, despair, and we gladly followed. The diva was perfectly in control and she had us exactly where she wanted us to be.

Pinkerton, the American rogue who seduces and abandon Butterfly, sung by tenor Franco Farina, was not as reliable: he was easy to dislike, as his tone was rather dull and monochromatic. We were worried he was going to rip off Butterfly hands when he asks to kiss them. Maybe he was going for some pent-up sexual frustration, which did not really worked for us. As an aside, Puccini segues from Pinkerton's aria knavishly announcing his intent to betray Butterfly into "Stars and stripes." Mmm, we're French, but if it was my anthem, I'd be upset, I'd pass a constitutional amendment to stop this desecration.

The national anthem is a recurring motif in the opera, and once is repeated, gracefully of course, by Patricia Racette: we were re-assured, since she will sing the anthem at the baseball game on June 7th. She's so good we're waging Barry will hit a home run.

Zheng Cao has sung Suzuki, Butterfly's maid and confidante, four times on this stage, and there is a reason she keeps being called back: she nails it. Sensitive at times, passionate at others, she gets every detail, every subtlety out of the role. The other roles were more than adequate, Phillip Joll in particular as the American consul.

Melody Moore as Pinkerton's American wife has a tiny role, but she allows us a digression: we saw her on Sunday at the Adler fellow concert in Yerba Buena Gardens. She will be the Countess in Marriage of Figaro for one performance on June 15th, where we'll hear more from her then. Other singers from the Adler concert we enjoyed, from those we were able to catch despite our late arrival: Jeremy Galyon, a bass who will be in next season's opening, A Masked Ball, and Gerald Thompson, a countertenor who will be in Die Fledermaus.

Butterfly is particular as an opera, as it has a long musical interlude. Traditionally, an interlude is required to keep the audience busy during a lengthy set change. Not here, where the intent is to convey the long, anxious and depressing wait of Cio-cio-san, after Pinkerton's boat has returned, 3 years after he left her. She hopes he'll come back to her any time now that he is back in town. Depicting someone waiting requires skills to keep it from being dull. Donald Runnicles' job at the helm of the orchestra painted a vivid sound palette to support the cast, and that interlude in particular was particularly majestous, tinged with both dignity and sadness, and ondulating here and there, the pulsating sound of a beating heart.

The set had the prerequisite spareness of a Japanese interior, yet was modular enough to never be boring. The lightings, by Stephen Strawbrige, help differentiating the different moods and atmosphere and keep things moving. It was a beautiful treat for all opera lovers, inside and outside.

Madame Butterfly
Info here
7 more performances: Sun. June 4, 2 pm, Thu. June 8, 7:30 pm, Sun. June 11, 2 pm, Fri. June 16, 8 pm, Sun. June 18, 7:30 pm, Wed. June 21, 7:30 pm, Sun. June 25, 2 pm
War Memorial Opera House
301 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 861-4008