After 63 years this performance remains a unique pleasure. Scotto and Callas might have emphasized the little-girlishness in Butterfly in their recordings, but as the opera progresses the character matures, and their voices along with it. Not so for Toti Dal Monte, who by nature was absolutely unsuited to the role: she was a light coloratura. Where Scotto attempted (and succeeded at) sounding somewhat like the spinto (or at least full lyric) this role requires, Dal Monte refuses to even try. She’s teensy and girlish from the start and never breaks character. After a while it’s slightly too cute and too mannered, then it becomes appropriate and you believe her utterly, then it turns sad, then heart-rending, and eventually, emotionally shattering. It’s a sui generis performance and must be heard.
Beniamino Gigli is, hands down, the only tenor who actually gets the happy playboy aspect and the “o-my-god-what-have-I-done” aspect exactly right, and he sings gorgeously to boot (a sob or two too many notwithstanding). Mario Basiola is a vocally adequate Sharpless but he’s very much on Butterfly’s side in their poignant Act 2 scene. Vittoria Palombini has an uninteresting voice that does not blend particularly well with Dal Monte’s, but she’s otherwise believable as Suzuki. Oliviero de Fabritiis leads with a sure hand, and having an all-Italian cast, orchestra, and chorus really does make a positive difference (there aren’t all that many recordings with a similar line-up).
As a bonus we get Dal Monte in arias (and a lovely duet with Schipa) when she was in better voice (she flats occasionally in the Butterfly) and they’re a real treat. But this is a true necessity for Dal Monte’s Butterfly, and Naxos’ transfer is clear and honest. This is one to put alongside your favorite Butterfly, whichever one that is.
