Petite but powerful is the best way to describe Maryanne Telese, who played the role of Cio-Cio San or “Butterfly” at Stephens Auditorium Wednesday night during the New York City Opera National Company’s production of “Madame Butterfly.”

Throughout the opera, Telese’s powerful soprano voice served as a perfect compliment to her powerful portrayal of the admirable opera heroine, “Butterfly.”

Telese’s strong voice filled Stephens Auditorium easily, making her melodies clear to audience members in the nosebleed section of the venue. When Telese came on stage for the first time in her traditional Japanese garb, she fluttered about the stage, excitedly preparing for her wedding.

Though Telese accurately imitated the immature, girlish attitudes of a Japanese 15-year-old, she also managed to pull off a strong, confident demeanor that continued later in the plot.

When Butterfly marries Pinkerton, she vows to be faithful to him forever, even if it means renouncing her family’s traditions and religion. In return, she only asks him to “love me like a child, that is the love that suits me.”

Unfortunately Pinkerton isn’t able to match her faithful heart and marries another woman from America. When Telese finds out about Pinkerton’s unfaithfulness, she is overcome with sorrow. She is even more overwhelmed when she finds out Pinkerton and his new wife, Kate, want to take her only son to America to give him “a stable life.”

Despite her anguish, Butterfly puts the happiness of others before her own, even the happiness of Kate. She agrees to Pinkerton’s proposal and comes to terms with the fact that she has been betrayed. During the closing scene, Butterfly stabs herself in the throat with a knife after blindfolding her son. She reasons that it is better to “let him die with honor who cannot live with honor.”

Telese’s interpretation of the fateful heroine was dynamic and stirring. Throughout the entire opera she managed to accurately portray the character of Butterfly, balancing the naivet‚ of a 15-year-old with the torment of a betrayed wife.