On Friday 27th March 2015 five BBCM children attended the school matinee performance of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Below see four reviews.

This review is about Madame Butterfly by Puccini, directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrics Caurier, with conductor Nicola Luisotti at the Royal Opera House. 
The music was great, perfect and we got good seats. I could deduce that it was good from the very start because it had loads of people coming to see it. It didn’t disappoint me. 
The singing was pretty good except it could do with a little bit less vibrato.  
The costumes were good except I think that on the wedding day Madame Butterfly overdressed. 
The stage was super, ultra, mega, you get the point, don’t you? Anyway, I’m trying to say that it was very good.  
I think Carlo Bosi, aka Goro, had the best singing voice.
I think the abomination was cool, grandpa flying in, woooo, awesome.  
All in all I think this production of Madam Butterfly was pretty good, thumbs up!
James Majid, age 7 

On 27th March 2015 I went to see Madama Butterfly by Puccini with my music teacher, Agnes, at the Royal Opera House. At first I did not look forward to the opera because my mum told me about the story of Madame Butterfly, and I thought it was too sad. I did not understand why the American soldier left her. But my mum said that I could enjoy the singers, the acting and the music.
I also wanted to see for myself some of the orchestra players leaving their seats during the opera. My music teacher does not like it when musicians leave during the opera even if they don’t have to play a part for a long time. She says that even if they don’t have to play for a long time they can sing the music in their heads.
And I am glad I went because I actually enjoyed Madame Butterfly. The opera made me very sad, too, because what will the boy do with a father whom he has not known at all. His mum took care of him. And now he is without his mum because she has killed herself. Will someone take the boy’s blindfold away from him, I asked my mum, and she said that she was sure that they would have done it later. [This production concludes with the boy blindfolded and waiving his flag while his mother commits suicide – Agnes Kory]  I still do not understand why his father left him and his mum, and also why you cannot be married to two people at the same time. I also think that Butterfly was too young to get married. She was still a child.
The music was beautiful but sad but I am not sure if the music made the sad story even sadder or it just was a sad story so the music sounded sad. I thought the singers were very good and never did the same thing twice. I enjoyed seeing the orchestra and the singers so well from my seat, and I could see the singers’ and musicians’ faces and hands.
I did not like the white face paint on people because surely people in Japan did not wear this paint all the time, all day. It looked fake and strange.
The older gentleman, Sharpless, was kind and a good man. Pinkerton should have thought about what happens to other people because of his actions and think about what he wanted to do before he got married to Madama Butterfly.  He was a bad person. I asked my mum if this was a true story, and she said that it was not. I am glad.
I noticed brass players leaving their seats, and thought that was funny, because that is exactly what Agnes had told us about. They should have stayed in their seats and sang the music in their heads.
Julian Herbst, age 7

I went to see Madame Butterfly, a Puccini opera, in March 2015 at the Royal Opera House. It was directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier and conducted by Nicola Luisotti. 
Madame Butterfly has very intense music which helps to create the atmosphere. Although the acting was good, I wouldn't have been able to understand what was going on without the subtitles. The time signature kept changing and it was hard to keep track of the strong beat.
All the singers had convincing costumes, which really helped to understand who was who, except Butterfly. Her wedding dress made her look like a human tent.  
The house and the stage were very good but I noticed that sometimes in the sky it was night and through the sliding door there was blue sky. Also, when Anush Hovhannisyan (Pinkerton's new wife Kate) was standing behind the sliding door you could see her outline but when Enkelejda Shkosa (Suzuki) went outside you couldn't see her outline.
My favourite scene was when Gabriele Viviani (Sharpless) brought the letter because it seemed at the beginning of the letter as if it was going to be happy and then it turned out to be a disaster. 
Overall I thought Madame Butterfly was a brilliant production.
Juliette Majid, age 10 

On Friday 27th of March 2015, I went to the Royal Opera House to see Madama Butterfly with four members of my music class at the BBCM (Bela Bartok Centre for Musicianship). Madama Butterfly is an Italian tragedy in three acts set in Japan. The music of the opera is composed  by  Giacomo Puccini ( 22nd December 1858 – 29th November 1924 ), based on the story of Madame Butterfly by John Luther Long ( January 1st 1861 – 31st October 1927 ) and the play Madame Butterfly by David Belasco ( 25th July 1853 – 14th May 1931 ).
The main characters: Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly, geisha and poor Japanese girl from Nagasaki); Lieutenant  F.B Pinkerton , an American naval officer on the Abraham Lincoln; Sharpless, the American consul at Nagasaki;  Suzuki, Butterfly’s strong-hearted and loyal maid; Goro, the Japanese marriage broker; Yamadori, a powerful Japanese aristocrat who proposes to Butterfly but is rejected. Finally there is Bonze, Butterfly’s religious uncle that persuades her family to leave the marriage as she even converted to Christianity as a result of her love for Pinkerton.
      The costumes are very effective, the colours worn depict the importance of a character (Butterfly has a bright red in the marriage, Suzuki has greyish robes). Although the scenery was bare even for a martial house, this made the few characters on scene the centre of attention, making it easier to focus on their voices and costume. The characters are clearly distinguished by the shape and colour of their costume and of their facial expressions. I particularly liked Yamadori’s entrance and costume, his pale, emotionless face and his imposing arrival with servants in an elaborate black and white gown. I thought of him as the stereotypical Japanese aristocrat.
The scenery was bare but effective as it took the shape of a typical marital home, with thin pull-up curtains. The uncoloured wooden flooring lacked the usual pieces of furniture.
The music was perfectly timed and supported the opera, taking over with effective dynamics. I think that the music was at its best during the change between acts 2 and 3. I also liked that this gave the talented orchestra a time to show their capabilities. I thought Cio-Cio San’s singing seemed effortless and gentle, and coordinated with her movement, with a light and natural quality. I particularly admired Susuki’s voice as her sound was persistent whilst clearly keeping her status as a maid. On the other hand, Yamadori’s singing is fast-paced and matches his appearance. Pinkerton had a lively sound but was less meaningful.
I liked lots of details in the lively first scene, especially how the marriage gradually made the dull background disappear to an unrealistic happiness that is quickly forgotten as the “Bonze” breaks up the marriage. After everyone left, I saw this as the first stage in the destruction of Butterfly’s hope-filled world. I also liked Kate’s (Pinkerton’s new wife) entrance. Butterfly immediately knows upon seeing the shadow of Kate what has happened. Although Suzuki had done everything to prevent this (as she had tried to make the men and Kate flee, she hadn’t woken up Butterfly and had even tried reasoning with Pinkerton), I think this makes more of an impact on the audience and it highlights Butterfly’s sorrow.
On the other hand, I think that the exit of the marriage is too sudden, although the uncle has his reasons as a priest, and most people would have been religious. I find it awkward that no one objects and that everyone leaves. I was also surprised at the end. I found it strange that the son is waving his flag silently as his mother is dying a few metres away and muttering her last words.
      Overall, I very much enjoyed the opera and could really appreciate the beauty and complexity through this amazing performance. I want to thank my music teacher, Agnes Kory, for this great opportunity as I could never have been able to appreciate it without her musical teaching. Moreover, thanks to her dedication, we had wonderful seats and I felt very privileged.
Scipio Zamparo, age 11