Madama Butterfly

MADAMA BUTTERFLY
by Giacomo Puccini

After seeing the opera Aïda by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) knew for sure that he would study music. The Italian Puccini already had some years of experience as a music student on the organ, but now the serious work would begin! At the age of 22 he started studying at the Milan Conservatory. His breakthrough came in 1893 with the opera Manon Lescaut. This opera immediately set the tone for many of Puccini's later operas, in which a female heroine plays the leading role.

It took Puccini no less than three years to complete his 1904 opera Madama Butterfly. The reason for this was a car accident that confined the maestro to his bed for over a year. Madama Butterfly premiered in 1904 at La Scala in Milan. It probably became Puccini's biggest flop. Puccini repaid de Scala for the loss it had suffered on the opera, and began to rewrite what he thought was his best. Puccini's Madama Butterfly, which is rich in oriental sounds, is based on a true story. Puccini liked to compose operas from everyday life, with stories that actually happened or otherwise come across as realistic. This movement is called Verism (vero means true or real).

The story of this opera: an American army officer marries the Japanese Butterfly, but will later leave her. The Butterfly family then turns against her. Madame Butterfly gives birth to a son and waits for the father. When he returns, he has brought his new American wife with him. Butterfly, devastated by everything, says goodbye to her child and slits her throat. Highlights: Ah! Quanto cielo, Un bel di vedremo and Lascialo giocar. Madame Butterfly was first performed at the Scala Theater in Milan on February 17, 1904.

The current version premiered on April 9, 2019 in Odessa.