The protagonists entered and exited over three bridges, but the room still felt like an island, delicately expressing Cio-Cio-San’s (a.k.a. The production was a triumph; it even received international exposure during Opera Australia’s first tour to China in 2018. As Music Director of the company, Andrea Battistoni’s eloquent treatment of Puccini’s score produced one of the best all-round musical experiences of OA productions in recent years. In such a stellar cast, his reading of such amazing Puccini moments as his Act I “Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia”, the most tender (and at the time, even sincere!) Small roles perhaps but they added to the pentatonic grandness and never-withering melodies of Puccini’s opera.