Their stage manner is very involved and hardly static. The chorus sing ravishingly, with great musicality, phrasing and diction and there are no obvious balance issues.
The orchestral playing is rich and warmly beautiful in tone, while the tenderness, lyrical sweep, dramatic tension, passion and nuances all come through. It was wonderful to see the Act 1 love duet, "Un Bel Di Vedremo" and "The Humming Chorus" performed in their proper context, very different from when they're heard on record, but the highlight was the final scene which was so emotionally devastating that it made me leave the cinema with tears running down my face. No irrelevance, weird distractions, nothing being over-directed or static or distaste, just compelling character interaction (especially between Cio-Cio San and Suzuki, a good thing because it's the most interesting and important relationship in 'Madama Butterfly'), plausible drama (overcoming any potential implausibility) and genuine pathos.
It was all elegant in its simplicity and wisely doesn't go for the cheap modernism, drabness or overblown symbolism that would have had potential to have distracted from the drama and the meaning of the opera itself, instead letting the drama and music speak for themselves.
Visually, this 'Madama Butterfly' keeps things simple but the production values are also evocative and sumptuous. Not all the simulcasts worked for me though, if you dislike ugly, swamp-drama visuals, irrelevance, strangeness, distaste and variable musical values 'Guillaume Tell' (2015), 'Norma' (2016) and 'Il Trovatore' (2017) are notable examples but were seen as an opera/ballet fan and for completest sake. This, 'The Nutcracker' (2016), 'The Sleeping Beauty' (2017) and 'Le Nozze Di Figaro' (2015) are examples of productions done with taste and being musically and performance-wise outstanding while having enough fresh touches to set them apart. Of the Royal Opera/Ballet Live Cinema simulcasts, this 'Madama Butterfly' is one of the best. This is an utterly amazing, unforgettable production of 'Madama Butterfly', the best 'Madama Butterfly' that has been seen by me in quite some time and actually one of my favourites ever (not sure how popular this view will be). It is blessed with a strong recording competition, and on DVD the only one not really worth bothering with is the visually ugly and distasteful Daniela Dessi production, which was like "Madama Butterfly goes to insect land". 'Madama Butterfly' is a very moving, if sometimes implausible, opera and contains some of the most beautiful music that Puccini ever wrote (the Act 1 love duet, the Humming Chorus, "Un Bel Di Vedremo" and the final scene particularly).
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