'MADAMA BUTTERFLY' SOARS ON ITS MUSICAL STRENGTHS.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

POOR BUTTERFLY, my eye! For only the second time this season - the first was the opening production, Berlioz's ``Damnation of Faust - the Los Angeles Opera has scored an unalloyed hit. And as with that earlier production, this success finds Kent Nagano, the company's music director, in league with an iconoclastic stage director. For ``Damnation,'' Nagano's partner was Achim Freyer. Now, in Puccini's ``Madama Butterfly,'' which opened Thursday night, Nagano teams up with that ultimate theatrical contrarian, Robert Wilson.

The idea of Wilson directing ``Butterfly'' seems on its face rather ridiculous. Isn't this the ultimate operatic weeper? And Wilson, known for his stiff movements, slow pacing, subtle lighting effects and spare designs, is anything but sentimental. And yet, like in a lunatic scientific experiment that succeeds against all odds, this strange pairing really works. Indeed, Puccini's score seems fortified by Wilson's rigor, while Wilson's singular but often grave sensibility is perversely humanized by Puccini's heart-on-his-sleeve tunefulness.

Much of the credit for this rewarding admixture must go to Nagano, for he conducts Puccini's score with uncommon attention to detail and no real shortage of Italianate passion. His engagement on opening night was total, his sweeping gestures as visible to those on the stage as in the audience.

And though it could not have been easy for the singers to concentrate on tone production while enacting Wilson's complicated, balletic movements, they did so without projecting discomfort. Wilson helped by making relatively modest demands on them, at least as compared with what his Wagner productions require.

The stage itself, Stephanie Engeln's design, was nearly bare, except for a practically dry stream bed in the first act and a square topographical depression in the second and third acts. No cheery blossoms here. And in classic Wilson fashion, Heinrich Brunke devised a highly mutable backdrop that changed colors with the ranging of emotions. Frida Parmeggiani's uncomfortable-looking costumes were doubtless meant to evoke geisha and samurai clothes, but they more resembled alien chic from a 1950s sci-fi movie. No matter, Wilson's ``Butterfly'' was rooted not in reality but rather in a Japan of the imagination. As such, the singers were at least relieved of having to worry about mundane naturalism.

All four of the opera's major roles are double cast, so different singers will appear as the run progresses. But the first cast did honor to the production. Cio-Cio-San, the Butterfly of the title, is one of opera's great roles, demanding a spectrum of emotion and a voice that can handle a substantial amount of demanding singing. Soprano Veronica Villarroel is well-known to L.A. Opera regulars, but, ironically, she has never seemed more comfortable on the stage. Though she lacks a ravishing voice and occasionally seemed to avoid certain notes altogether, she offered a tremendously heartfelt portrayal.

As Pinkerton, the caddish American Navy lieutenant who loves and leaves this exotic innocent, tenor John Matz commanded the stage. Tall and with a burnished sound that occasionally recalls Placido Domingo's, he proved at once powerful and likable if hardly sympathetic. As the American consul Sharpless, baritone Alan Opie sounded a little underpowered and rough around the edges, but he provided gravity. And though mezzo-soprano Susanna Poretsky also sounded tentative at times as Suzuki, she acted well.

By stripping Puccini's opera of much of its visual allure, Wilson has forced us to really listen to the music and appreciate the drama, something made all the more attractive thanks to Nagano's fine work in the pit. The result is a rediscovery not to be missed.

MADAMA BUTTERFLY - Four stars

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

When: 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, March 7 and 14; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, 26, 27, 29, March 4, 5, 11 and 12.

Tickets: $25 to $170. [phone] or www.losangelesopera.com.

In a nutshell: Robert Wilson's iconoclastic and spare production ironically puts the focus on Puccini's score, which Kent Nagano conducts brilliantly.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Sound triumphs over staging in L.A. Opera's ``Madama Butterfly,'' featuring John Matz and Veronica Villarroel.