Monday, February 05, 2007

Madama Butterfly in Tirana

Another great opera performance last night here in Tirana! Madame Butterfly is a lovely story that offers lots of possibilities for interesting costume and set design.




The Opera Company of Tirana has probably one of the lowest budgets of any opera company in the world, but oh what it does with its limited resources! I loved the curtain/screen that was on display when we entered the theater. It was simple but set the tone for this oriental opera.



Unfortunately my camera battery ran out during the opera so I was only able to catch these two shots, but I think the second one is quite good. This was my favourite scene of the night because of all the Japanese kimonos, umbrellas and the tea ceremony.

I have to commend the two lead singers for doing a wonderful job! I met Armando last month at a party and he was very strong as Lieutenant Pinkerton, and the young Albania female in the role of Madame Butterfly received a fabulous standing ovation. The scene stealer of the evening was the tiny young boy named"Trouble" who tried very hard not to wiggle while he had to kneel for a long, long time on the floor. Bravo!

I wish the productions were more frequent, and I'm looking forward to the next one!

13 comments:

Adela_Radu said...

thank you for sharing these pictures and I'm really glad to hear that you are enjoying the performances in Tirana.

Ms Mac said...

I haven't been to Opera since my high school did The Pirates of Penzance in 19*coughs*.
Maybe I need to investigate opera options in Zürich further!

oreneta said...

I saw Madame Butterfly in Budapest, and while I am by no stretch of the imagination an opera buff, it was very good, and a very impressive performance.
Sounds like your was too.

Jessica Brogan said...

You should come post a review of one of your random books at our new (expat sort-of) blog:

readerswithoutborders.blogspot.com

i bet I would like the books you read, judging by this short list.

Anonymous said...

Madame Butterfky is one of my favorite operas. I had the good fortune to see a performance in New York over the holidays. The costumes were magnificent! Glad to meet another online opers friend!xoxo

Ginnie Hart said...

I'm reading this post today, Kim, when I have our Hannover Opera House posted on SC! Interesting. One of these trips Donica and I need to go to one of the operas here. While we've attended many musical plays together in Atlanta (like "Miss Saigon"), we've never attended an opera together. Hmmm. Good inspiration here.

Turtle Guy said...

"The Opera Company of Tirana has probably one of the lowest budgets of any opera company in the world, but oh what it does with its limited resources!"

I'm sure the tallent was anything but "limited", and isn't it wonderful to see what creativity flows from a thriftiness of spirit!

verniciousknids said...

It looks very sumptuous...and what a scene stealing name - I love it!

Anonymous said...

Looks like a beautiful production!

John Gerard Sapodilla said...

dear Ms. T.O. , I am sad to inform you that Opera experts consider Madama Butterfly a carbon copy of La Boheme. Fans use the Italian mocking expression MADAMA BUTTA ER FLIT = Madama spray ddt around.

Anyway your goodwill deserves Strudel's frontpage
http://www.strudelwahoo.com/albania.htm

WOW

TulipGirl said...

I loved going to the opera when we lived in Kyiv. Wonderful seats, wonderful performances, wonderfully affordable tickets. . .

Trixi und Julian said...

Hi, I'm also an expat living in Tirana (german, doctor), and I saw the opera! I was dazzeled by the tenor's golden tooth... I couldn't find your e-mail-adress on your blog, so this is my way of asking: Can I use the picture of the curtain in my blog? You should know, it's a german blog, and with a password, strictly for my family. I didn't take my camera and I hate myself for it. Please..?

Miss Kim said...

trixi and Julian... sorry for my late reply! Yes certainly you can use the photo! My pleasure :)