'BUTTERFLY' TAKES WING ONCE AGAIN.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

ROBERT WILSON'S staging of Puccini's ``Madama Butterfly'' proved a revelation when last encountered, two years ago at the Los Angeles Opera. Now the production is back at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and rather than breeding contempt, familiarity brings fresh insights.

The familiarity goes beyond the unusually swift re-emergence of ``Butterfly,'' for Wilson, one of the most distinctive artists in theater, directed last month's company premiere of Wagner's ``Parsifal'' and thus barely had the chance to leave before he returned.

There have been changes to ``Butterfly'' since its previous appearance, of course. Rather than the fiery Veronica Villarroel, esteemed American soprano Patricia Racette, in her company debut, sings the title role. And as the caddish Pinkerton, tenor Marcus Haddock returns to a role he last sang with L.A. Opera more than a decade ago. Dan Ettinger, a rising star is Israel and elsewhere, conducts, as opposed to Kent Nagano, the outgoing company music director and a tough act to follow.

Even the staging seems slightly altered, courtesy of Wilson deputy Christiane Leveque, we presume. But the director's imprint still dominates. The production's aesthetic remains resolutely spare, formal, even mannered. Yet there is nothing cold about what results when Wilson's brittle stage vocabulary meets Puccini's lush, soaring melodies. Indeed, the power of this production lies in its ability to transport the listener to a hyperemotional plane, something Wilson's vaunted lighting effects - here Vermeer, there Rothko - help engender.

Some credit, of course, must go to the performers, especially Racette. At Saturday night's opening, she was simply heartbreaking as the teenage girl whose naive faith in her handsome (sailor) suitor - and in the America he represents - gets dashed by his selfish, even racist, arrogance. That this soprano has a voice to match her dramatic abilities made her particularly dear when her pure tone floated above Ettinger's not always supportive conducting.

Haddock, at times a dead ringer for actor Tim Robbins, looked the part of Pinkerton, but his voice didn't always rise to the occasion. On the other hand, the likable mezzo-soprano Margaret Thompson, as Butterfly's loyal retainer Suzuki, and the gifted baritone Vladimir Chernov, as the conflicted American consul Sharpless, sang warmly and persuasively throughout, steadily growing in conviction.

Ettinger's conducting too often smothered the singers, but he generally kept the pit lively. And concertmaster Stuart Canin's melting violin tone enriched more than a few passages.

Praise also needs to be afforded to 10-year-old Stephen Cruz, in the nonsinging role of Butterfly and Pinkerton's son Trouble, the aptly named inadvertent cause of much anguish. A preternaturally unaffected performer, Cruz had a memorable cameo in Wilson's ``Parsifal.'' Now he has repaid the director's faith in him in a bigger role. May more come his way.

MADAMA BUTTERFLY - Four stars

What: Robert Wilson's production of Puccini's ``Madama Butterfly'' returns to L.A. Opera.

Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 6:30 p.m. tonight and Feb. 1, 4, 8 and 16; 2 p.m. Jan. 29 and Feb. 12 and 19.

Tickets: $30 to $205. [phone] or www.losangelesopera.com.

In a nutshell: Wilson's spare staging and Patricia Racette's moving star turn make the familiar fresh and affecting.