Name: Madama Butterfly
Start: 2022-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2022-05-29T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Deutsche Oper Berlin

Organization

Singer

Soprano

Elena Guseva

Cio-Cio-San

Tenor

Brian Jagde

B.F. Pinkerton

Mezzo-soprano

Irene Roberts

Suzuki

Baritone

Dong-Hwan Lee

Sharpless

Burkhard Ulrich

Goro

Bass

Byung Gil Kim

Uncle Bonze

Jörg Schörner

Prince Yamadori

Sam Park

The imperial commissioner

Dean Murphy

The official registrar

Stage director

Pier Luigi Samaritani

Conductor

Donald Runnicles

Costume designer

Set designer

Chorus master

Thomas Richter

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Orchestra

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

Others

Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Italian

Madama Butterfly -  (Madame Butterfly)

Berlin

Germany

Madama Butterfly Puccini

Public

Madame Butterfly

German

English

Approved

Giacomo Puccini always considered MADAMA BUTTERFLY his favourite and best work. The Japanese tragedy about the geisha Cio-Cio-San and the American naval lieu...

The American Lieutenant Pinkerton anchored his ship in the port of Nagasaki. To pass the time, he courted the 15-year-old geisha Cio-Cio-San, called Butterfly, who comes from a noble but impoverished family and takes their love very seriously. Pinkerton wants to enter into a "temporary marriage" - at that time not uncommon between European men and geishas - and, with the help of matchmaker Goro, even looks for a small house for their honeymoon together. When the American consul Sharpless warns him about this marriage, he makes fun of his boyfriend and even toasts the day when he will celebrate his “real” wedding with an American woman. For the young Japanese woman who even converted to the faith of her lover out of love, the connection with the foreigner has painful consequences: She is cast out by her family after the wedding ceremony has taken place. Pinkerton has difficulty in comforting his "butterfly".
Three years have passed. With her faithful servant Suzuki and her young child, Cio-Cio-San leads a life of seclusion. She refuses all attempts by Prince Yamadori to ask her for her hand, as she firmly believes in Pinkerton's return. When Sharpless finally arrives with a message from Pinkerton's asking him to prepare her for his imminent return to Nagasaki and his marriage to the American Kate, he is shocked to find that she has a child. He doesn't dare to carry out his assignment and only tells her about Pinkerton's arrival. Cio-Cio-San is happy. Together with Suzuki she decorates her house, puts on her wedding dress and awaits her lover.

When Pinkerton arrives at the door with his wife Kate and the consul, Suzuki learns the whole truth. She should persuade Butterfly to give up her child. Pinkerton doesn't want to face her personally and runs away. Butterfly sees the strange woman and suddenly it becomes clear to her: Pinkerton has not come to return to her, but to take the child with her. She asks for a half-hour postponement and says goodbye to her little son. Then she puts an end to her life.
There are opposites in theatre: arouse interest, surprise and touch. What have I to do with heroes and immortal figures? I don't like being in that kind of environment. I'm not the musician of the big things, I feel the small things, and that's the only thing I love to handle. That's how I liked Manon, because she was a girl from the heart and nothing more... And that's how I liked Butterfly, because she's such a clear, feminine thing, but who knows how to love to death.” Puccini has known MADAMA BUTTERFLY all her life as describes his favorite and also his best work. In fact, it corresponds to his self-chosen maxim of the "music of small things" almost masterfully. Finely chiseled musical details, an enchanting melody in the voice leading, Unobtrusively inserted exotic elements and a sensitive mixture of timbres in the orchestra not only made the work immortal for the public, but also made it a model for many composers of the following generations - as well as Puccini's other operas. However, public success only came after some changes by the composer. In the revised form, the opera was then performed for the first time on May 28, 1904 in Brescia. It had now been extended from the original two to three acts; the interlude between the second and third acts with the famous "humming chorus" was also added. The Deutsche Oper Berlin's production focuses on the tragedy of the young woman who remains true to her love, even if it seems hopeless for everyone else.

Madame Butterfly by Puccini, Sat 21 May 2022, From (2022/2022), Directed by Pier Luigi Samaritani,, Conductor Donald Runnicles, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

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