Eastern Promise 

G Verdi: La Traviata 3 February, G Puccini: Madama Butterfly 4 February The Ukrainian National Opera of Odessa, New Theatre, 2005.

Ellen Kent and her Opera International are doing a tremendous service to lovers of opera and ballet in this Country, by bringing over, on tour, Eastern European companies, presenting traditional productions of the popular repertoire. While followers of Welsh National Opera and Glyndebourne Touring have in the past been a little wary of such productions, the increasingly bizarre nature of some of their own recent efforts have led to a real thirst for 'proper productions'. Last year we saw the Chisinau National Opera in a brilliant Tosca (reported in OM, No.223) and Turandot (sadly disappointing, mainly due to a lack of stage presence in the eponymous role, but mitigated by an outstanding Liu in Rosa Lee Thomas). This year it is the turn of the Ukrainians, who were seen in performances of La Traviata and Madama Butterfly.

What do these two operas have in common? Both are archetypal stories dealing with heroines tragic in their own way. One is a simple sentimental, if familiar, story of a naïve girl left pregnant by a visiting naval officer to the shores of Japan, bringing shame and disgrace to herself and her own family. The other is the complex story of a terminally ill courtesan, who sacrifices a chance of ending her days in happiness with a young lover in order to spare his family shame and disgrace. Both stories have captured the imagination of a wider public than the regular opera-going audience. Both have recently inspired musicals based loosely on their subjects - Miss Saigon (recently at the New Theatre and reviewed in these columns by my drama colleague, Keith Gore) and Moulin Rouge (seen recently on TV). Such transcriptions give rise to issues to which I shall return in future articles. But looked at in this way, one immediately sees that the basic fault with WNO's recent version of the latter, set in modern times, is that the music was wrong. The directors should have realised this.

In anticipating the rise of the curtain on Traviata, one was tempted to expect comparison with the Chisinau Opera - that is beautiful singing and action but rather tatty sets and a rather weak orchestral sound. This was not the case with the Ukranians who came over as a much more professional company. The design of the set used the full space of the New Theatre stage (in contrast to WNO) and, while one might cavil at some of the detail of sets and costumes, the décor acted as a perfect backdrop to the action. The orchestra, a little tentative at first with wind and strings out of balance, improved remarkably as the opera progressed and provided a fine accompaniment, if not, if not, perhaps, making the strong positive contribution to the drama as do our Welsh friends.

Apart from these minor criticisms, it must be said that this production was absolutely outstanding and can stand comparison with any of our domestic opera companies, not excluding the Royal Opera. First and foremost one must say that all the details of the drama, carefully worked out by Verdi and Piave, in their adaptation of Dumas, came over as a fresh telling of the story (admittedly aided by the surtitles of David Edwards, courtesy of the Royal Opera). The singing, of both soloists (all of whom have extensive international experience) and chorus was marvellous. Alfredo, Akhmed Agadi from Kazhakstan, was a slightly foreign sounding tenor with a slight lisp who nevertheless sang truly and acted convincingly. Vladimir Dragos (Giorgio Germont) sang his dramatically difficult role with as much conviction as is possible (a sterner interpretation than Christopher Purves for WNO). Larysa Zuyenko (who has sung the role at the Bastille) was in full dramatic and vocal control of the title role with all its range of emotions and gave a completely satisfying performance.

It is hard to select highlights from such a rounded performance but I will mention three: the heart-breaking dialogue between Violetta and Germont in the scene in the country, the final chorus from Act II, where the orchestra came fully into its own - the musical climax of the opera - and Violetta's performance in the last Act. The emotional impact of this finale lay in the singer's technical ability to convey the frailty of the heroine without a diminution in the intensity or quality of the sound.

It was still savouring the experience of La Traviata that I set off the next evening to see Madama Butterfly 

 I must confess that these lie at opposite ends of my scale of great operas. The tragedy of Butterfly is her simple innocence and foolish self-deception; that of Violetta is her self-knowledge and complex motivation in going to live with Alfredo and then leaving him on the demand of Germont. The music of the former is blown up by Puccini to almost Wagnerian length, relatively speaking. (I agree with the original La Scala audience in this.)

Having said this, this production was most persuasive, in its way the equal of Traviata, being borne along by a beautiful orchestral sound doing more than justice to Puccini. Again, it was characterised by a clear telling of the story without embellishment or embroidery. The scenery, with its backdrop of Nagasaki bay and small house set in a beautiful garden (Ellen Kent's own design) was a perfect setting for the drama which was performed to the highest vocal standard throughout. Rosa Lee Thomas (the Liu of Turandot) gave a moving portrait of Cio-Cio-San. Ruslan Zynevych gave a nicely judged portrait of Pinkerton's cynicism and deviousness with the slightest twinge of conscience at the end. However, I shall remember this production for Vladimir Dragos in his portrayal of the Consul, Sharpless. He got every nuance of the character right, from his initial cynicism, to his gradual growth of sympathy for Cio-Cio-San, combined with his exasperation with her self-deception and his desire to have nothing to do with the matter. My one slight criticism is that the ladies did not have to perfection the elegant poise and delicacy of movement, which is the image the western mind has of the Japanese, to emphasise the culture clash.

These were two remarkable nights at the opera. All the soloists are names worth looking out for. We look forward to the return of this company. Next time, don't miss it.