How To Go;
What: The Dayton Opera’s presentation of “Madame Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini. Sung in Italian with English surtitles.
When: 8 p.m., Friday, November 20 and 3 p.m. , Sunday, November 22
Where: Schuster Center, Dayton.
Tickets: Priced from $38 to $94 and available at www.daytonperformingarts.org or by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630. Senior, student, and military discounts are available.
Also: One hour prior to both performances there will be a pre-performance talk presented by UD Music Professor Dr. Sam Dorf. "Opera bites" are available in the Wintergarden before the performance and at the first intermission.
For more information: visit www.daytonperformingarts.org.
A tragic story of young love returns to Dayton next weekend with the Dayton Opera’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s popular “Madame Butterfly.” The touching tale is one of the world’s 10 most-performed operas.
Under the artistic direction of Thomas Bankston, the opera will be on stage at the Schuster Center Friday, Nov. 20 and Sunday, Nov. 22. Set in 19th-century Japan, it’s the story of an American sailor and his Japanese wife.
“People are drawn back to this piece again and again because the story so touches everyone’s heart,” Bankston said. “It’s about this poor Geisha girl who gets duped by this ‘Ugly American’ sailor. She’s had a child and is holding onto hope that he will return and do the right thing for her and her child. But that doesn’t happen, and she takes that last tragic step to maintain her honor.”
The opera will be sung in Italian with English surtitles. “Puccini writes such beautiful melodies and he was at his best in this particular piece,” said Bankston.
Many will never forget the Dayton Opera’s 2006 production of Butterfly with its spectacular modern sets by artist/sculptor Jun Kaneko. This time around, Bankston determined to return to the opera’s traditional roots but wanted to anchor it with a strong center.
That center is lyric soprano Yunah Lee.
“Yunah is such a veteran of this role and we’re very lucky that we’re going to see her portrayal which has taken her all over the world,” Bankston said. “She is sought after as a renowned portrayer of this wonderful role.”
Lee has appeared in more than 30 productions as Cio-Cio-San (“Butterfly”), Puccini’s heroine. She’s sung the role in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Ireland as well as with Opera Quebec, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Carolina, New York City Opera and Glimmerglass Opera. She most recently covered the role with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Meet Yunah Lee
This is the first time Lee has performed in Dayton. We had an opportunity to sit down last week with her in the Schuster Center’s Mathile Theatre just before a rehearsal.
Q. So how did it happen that you've played Butterfly in 156 performances and for so many opera companies all over the world? What is challenging about the role?
A. My voice fits well for Puccini music and the drama. I'm Asian so I look the part. It's the title role and it's a lot of responsibility because it's one of the longest roles ever written. I haven't counted how many notes I'm singing but it's a two-and-a-half-hour opera and I'm on stage constantly. It's a lot of singing because it's the story of three years of her life. It takes a lot of vocal and physical stamina and a lot of pacing.
Q. How do you relate to Butterfly as a character?
A. When I first started singing this role in 2002, it wasn't too strange because — unlike other roles I've done, Western girl characters — it was very familiar to me. I was born and grew up in South Korea which had similar culture to Japan.
Butterfly is Japanese and from the 19th century, but the mentality and expectations of an Asian girl can still be related. For example, although it was more severe in the past, we still have an existing culture that focuses on the importance of keeping your purity and your honor. Butterfly kills herself because of that reason and that culture and mentality.
Although I don’t agree with it, suicide still happens today. For a girl specifically, in old time Korea if you were in danger of being raped you were supposed to kill yourself. Up until the 19th-century daughters from the noble class were supposed to carry a little silver knife with them all the time.
On her early career
Q. When did you start singing? Who influenced you?
A. My parents are artistic and musical people. I was always singing at church and was asked to sing solos. I began playing the piano at the age of 4 and also play violin. But I never thought of becoming a professional musician.
I’m a Christian and when I was 15 I had a spiritual experience. I was meditating on the Bible and praying about my future and I wanted to hear His calling. I saw the word “MUSIC/MUSICIAN.” I never doubted that and the next day I went out to look for a voice teacher.
Q. What do you love about singing?
A. It's a way of expression for me.
Q. Why did you come to America?
A. When I was in college I visited my aunt in Los Angeles and saw America. There is something about America that shows freedom and respect for differences and respect for individuality. A lot of teaching in Asian culture is that there is only one way of being "good."In fact, it's the same word there for "different" and "wrong." America is based on immigration, on differences.
Q. Where did you study here?
A. First I went to Boston and studied at the New England Conservatory for a year. They I went to Juilliard because my teacher went to Juilliard. I have been living in New Jersey for about 23 years.
Q. Why opera?
A. I went to my first opera when I was 15; it was a performance of one of my teachers. I found it fascinating. At Juilliard I was cast to sing opera. I like it, the freedom of acting, I do like to become someone else. I'm introverted and when I sing a concert, I'm still myself. In opera I can lose my shyness.
On playing Butterfly
A. I was offered the chance to try out for "Butterfly" the first time when I was 24, but my voice teacher had warned me not to play this role too early because it was so demanding and said: "I'll kick you out of my class if you accept the role." When I was 32, it felt right. It fit like a glove. My tenor was experienced. He had sung at the Met. He said: "This part was written for you." And that made me very happy because I realized I had a future.
Q. How do you keep a role fresh when you've played it more than 100 times?
A. That's always a challenge but it happens naturally. Sometimes rehearsals can be challenging because we repeat a lot. But it's always interesting because you are with new people. This story is realistic, dramatic. It's more dramatic than a soap opera. It's about a girl in love. You can relate at any age. One little girl came up to me after a performance and said: "Did you hurt yourself?"
Q. And the music?
A. Unless the music tells it beautifully, the story doesn't have power. Puccini's music is so beautiful. And live performance is so important, especially now that everything is available online.
I’ve heard doctors say that what happens to our body when we hear live music is positive. I go to hospitals and sing for cancer patients. I believe in the healing power of live music.
Others in the production
Joining Lee in Dayton will be tenor John Pickle who will play the sailor, Lt. B.F.Pinkerton. Pickle made his Dayton Opera debut in 2014 in the role of Radames in Dayton Opera’s “Aida.” Mezzo-soprano Ryu-Kyung Kim returns to play the role of Suzuki, Butterfly’s devoted maid and confidante. Baritone Corey Crider also returns to Dayton Opera is Sharpless, the American Consul in Japan who is sent to break the news to Butterfly that Pinkerton will return to Nagasaki, but not for the reason she’d envisioned.
Bass Adam Fry will perform the role of The Bonze. Making their Dayton Opera debuts will be tenor Robert Norman as Goro, baritone Andrew Pardini in the dual roles of Imperial Commissioner and Prince Yamadori, and soprano Kasia Borowiec as Kate Pinkerton. Pardini and Borowiec are both members of Dayton Opera’s upcoming 2015-2016 Artists-in-Residence Program.
The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by Robert Tweten who has conducted “Madame Butterfly” with both Edmonton Opera and Utah Opera. The Dayton Opera Chorus will also participate.
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