A leading British opera scholar denounced Puccini's Madame Butterfly as "racist," ahead of the opening of a new production of one of the world's most popular operas.
Professor Roger Parker, music teacher at King's College London and a Puccini expert, suggested in The Daily Telegraph that producers should stage modern versions by changing some parts of the opera.
"An authentic production is a racist production," he was quoted as saying. "It has a lot of ideas within it that would be seen in any other circumstances as racist. It is not just a question of the words, it is also Puccini's music," he said.
PHOTO: AP
Parker had not seen the production which opened last month at the Royal Opera House but the newspaper called it a traditional take on the story of a 15-year-old Japanese geisha who falls in love with an American naval officer.
Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton makes a marriage of convenience to Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly), who converts to Christianity, before abandoning her with a baby and returning to the United States to get married to a "real wife."
Puccini's Butterfly, set in Japan at the start of the 20th century, "is a product of the time in which it was written," the Royal Opera House stated.
However, Parker said that the popularity of authentic productions meant he had to speak out, even if many considered his comments as heresy. " ... [The] problem is that people are too frightened of intervening in opera to make a modern production, by cutting out or changing some parts."
A source from the Japanese embassy in London did not take offence. "I don't think it is racist at all. The story could have happened in Vietnam or even London. It is about the time it was set in, we don't feel offended because it is about Japan," the source said.
(AFP)
一位英國歌劇知名學者在普契尼的新版
「蝴蝶夫人」開演前，批評這部最受世人喜愛的歌劇有種族歧視的意味。
身為倫敦大學國王學院音樂教師和普契尼專家的羅傑．派克，在「每日電訊報」建議，製作人應更改部分內容，演出現代版本的歌劇。
報導引述他的發言表示︰「原著就是
一部種族歧視的作品，當中很多概念在任何其他情況下都會被視為種族歧視，這不
只是文字的問題，普契尼的音樂也是。」
派克還沒看過上個月在英國皇家歌劇院開演的作品，不過報紙形容它採取傳統手法來詮釋一名十五歲日本藝伎愛上一名美國海軍軍官的故事。
海軍上尉平克頓跟改信基督教的蝴蝶夫人假結婚，之後卻拋棄她和小孩，回美國娶一位「真正的妻子」。
英國皇家歌劇院指出，普契尼的蝴蝶夫人場景設在二十世紀初的日本，是部「在當時時空背景下所撰寫的作品」。
不過派克表示，原著普及的程度讓他必須挺身而言，儘管有許多人認為他的言論過於極端，「問題在於太多人畏懼刪減或更改部份歌劇內容，以致無法製作現代的版本」。
倫敦日本大使館一名消息來源表示不覺得被冒犯︰「我一點也不覺得種族歧視，這個故事也可能會發生在越南或甚至倫敦
，這和它設定的時空背景有關，我們不會因為它設定在日本就覺得被冒犯。」
（法新社╱翻譯︰鄭湘儀）
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