He was convinced, and he convinced us, that if you play exactly as the composer has indicated you cannot go wrong and yet, in spite of this exact observation of Puccini's markings in "Madame Butterfly", he managed to avoid the usual feeling of constant stops and starts which arises from the rather awkwardly written short phrases. He kept the music seamless and flowing, creating the only wholly satisfactory performances of this opera that I have ever heard. He had to highly-acclaimed Butterflies, Amy Shuard and Victoria de los Angeles but for some unknown reasons was not en rapport with the enchanting Spanish singer; he never said anything but always appeared unhappy during her performances; obviously not caring for her interpretation. << less