The late director’s Cio-Cio San of choice remembers a remarkable collaboration.

Seen the Rabbits, why not try the Butterfly? The second instalment of the operatic menagerie that is this year’s Perth Festival is one of the last decade’s most iconic and talked about productions: the late Anthony Minghella’s staging of Puccini’s tragic tale of love and loss, Madama Butterfly. Singing the lead role of Cio-Cio San is Mary Plazas, a soprano with an international career and a pedigree that includes some eclectic choices of repertoire. She should, however, be no stranger to West Australian audiences having previously appeared as Mimì for WA Opera back in 2007.

With a name like Mary Plazas, you might expect an exotic creature, a bit like the doomed geisha she is here in Perth to play. A few minutes chatting to the Yorkshire-born soprano though, is enough to convince me that here is a refreshingly down to earth career singer with as savvy a sense of the drama as she has a heart and voice for the music. I’ve just watched her go through the final harrowing act of Puccini’s opera, and now, poor thing, she has to sit and talk to a journalist...