COMPOSERS: Puccini
LABELS: DG
WORKS: Madama Butterfly
PERFORMER: Freni, Carreras, Berganza, Pons, etc; Ambrosian Opera Chorus; PO/Sinopoli
CATALOGUE NO: DG 477 9128 Reissue (1988)
Freni’s Butterfly was always heartfelt, and Carreras is a sympathetic Pinkerton. The problem is Sinopoli: for some he traded in musical revelation; for the rest of us, he is brash and wayward. Christopher Cook