Utah Opera's Madame Butterfly

I fell in love with opera when I was a teenager so, after I graduated from college and started making decent money, I decided to get season tickets to Utah Opera.  I had them for years.  During that time I refined my taste a bit.  I don't particularly care for operas sung in English;  I prefer Italian or German (and occasionally French).  I'm not a big fan of modern libretti (Cold Sassy Tree just about did me in); I like the classics.  Finally, while there are a few exceptions (The Marriage of Figaro), I would rather see a tragic opera over a comedic one.  Now I pick and choose which ones I want to see and Puccini's Madame Butterfly ticks all of the boxes for me.  I had the opportunity to see Utah Opera's production last night and it was simply amazing, giving me chills and moving me to tears.  Yunah Lee gave a passionate performance as Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly), a woman who gives up everything to be with an American naval officer stationed in Japan.  The love duet she sings with Pinkerton (Eric Fennell) after their wedding was so beautiful I was almost overcome.  The aria she sang while waiting for Pinkerton to return to her ("One beautiful day") was so affecting that it gave me chills (and the audience burst into spontaneous applause).  The final scene with Pinkerton was so powerful I know I won't soon forget it.  I literally had tears in my eyes!  Fennell was excellent as Pinkerton, a character I wanted to hate for his cavalier attitude towards his marriage to Butterfly.  However, he redeemed himself a bit in the final scene.  Another powerful performance was that of Gregory Pearson (a Utah Opera favorite) as the bonze, Butterfly's uncle.  The scene where he renounces Butterfly also gave me chills.  The set was a beautiful traditional house with moving shoji screens on a hill overlooking the ocean.  The costumes, especially all of the kimonos, were incredibly opulent.  I did find the end of Act 2 Scene 1 to be a bit tedious because nothing happened on stage for quite a while as Butterfly waited all night for Pinkerton (that is rather the point) but it was worth sitting through to get to the stunning conclusion!  It was a magical evening of music and I highly recommend getting a ticket to this outstanding production.  Remaining performances are Oct. 15, 17, and 19.  Go here for tickets.