The pathos of this heart-rending story about a sweet-natured Japanese girl and the caddish American naval lieutenant who marries then deserts her has seldom been conveyed with such emotional directness. In his sumptuous filming of Puccini"s opera, director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle uses an array of cinematic effects (including a memorable dream sequence) to evoke the protagonists" irreconcilably separate lives and worlds. As Butterfly, Mirella Freni is unbearably moving in one of the finest performances of her career, while Placido Domingo makes Lt. Pinkerton a more sympathetic figure than usual. Opera In Two Acts Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly) - Mirella Freni B. F. Pinkerton - Placido Domingo Suzuki - Christa Ludwig Sharpless - Robert Kerns Goro - Michel Senechal Il Bonzo - Marius Rintzler Kate Pinkerton - Elke Schary Il Principe Yamadori - Giorgio Stendoro Жан-Пьер Понелли