IAMANDA ROOCROFT fans may have been disappointed not to hear her perform as one of opera’s best loved tragic heroines this weekend, but the WNO will have surely created a new army of Butterfly collectors in those who went to see this elegant adaptation of the Puccini classic at the Empire.

Britain’s top soprano fell ill last week so understudy Anne Williams-King had to step into her slippers. Madam Butterfly is the story of the 15-year-old geisha Cio-Cio-San who catches the eye of US naval officer Lieut Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton and then forsakes family and traditions to marry him.

Director Joachim Herz’s interpretation draws on Puccini’s less well known second version, which gives extra weight to Pinkerton’s boorishness, for example dismissing Butterfly’s ancestor spirit figurines as “puppets”. American tenor Russell James was rather static on stage but his voice was fine and rich.

Despite the lack of rehearsal time veteran Anne King-Williams acquitted herself excellently, never flagging in a long, intense performance.

If Butterfly’s devotion to Pinkerton seemed slightly inexplicable, King-Williams poured heart and soul into conveying Butterfly’s lonely vulnerability.

19th century Nagasaki was realised in a set of tasteful tones of brown and cream. The set hinted at cherry blossom, curled roofs and kimonos rather than being steeped in them Three layers of paper sliding doors reinforced the sense of Butterfly being sealed off. There was a lot of opening and closing at times but it did provide the frame for the most stunning set piece of the play, the humming chorus, where Butterfly, servant Suzuki and her child keep vigil for Pinkerton. Backlit behind paper screens the trio cut a strikingly forlorn image.

One Fine Day (Un Bel Di) was achingly beautiful, fully done justice by the WNO’s splendid orchestra.

EMMA PINCH