Madame Butterfly by Puccini, Frá (2023/2023), Leikstýrt af Denis Azarov,, Hljómsveitarstjóri Anton Torbeev, Jan Latham-Koenig, Evgeny Samoilov, Andrey Lebedev, Valentin Uryupin, Alexandru Samoila, Vasily Valitov, Novaya Opera Theatre, Moscow, Russia

Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) is the largest Italian opera composer after G. Verdi. His work completes the classical period in the history of Italian opera (and, according to many musicians and music historians, the classical period in the history of opera as a whole) and, at the same time, perceives the trends of the new time. In his operas, the composer freely and with great skill uses the techniques of musical composition of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: colorful orchestration in the late Romantic style or pastel impressionist harmonies; but the main wealth of his music is the melody. It is no coincidence that Verdi called Puccini "the keeper of the seal of the Italian melody." Madama Butterfly (1904) by Puccini is one of the best classical operas. This is a work about the tragic love of a young Japanese geisha from Nagasaki for an American lieutenant, and from a broader point of view, about the incompatibility of the cultural traditions of the West and the East. “In the wake of the huge European interest in everything oriental, especially in Japan, Puccini was attracted by the clash of East and West inherent in the plot (as you know, according to Kipling, they will never understand each other). Energetic American pragmatism (“comfortable and beautiful,” according to Pinkerton), invading the mysterious eastern world of entities, destroys it. The integrity of this world is protected by a young geisha” (Mikhail Muginshtein). Puccini's opera is a child of the modern era. "Japanese tragedy" by Puccini appeared a year before the birth of "Salome" by R. Strauss - a luxurious flower of Art Nouveau. Madama Butterfly puts lyrical Italian drama in an exotic Japanese-style setting. The composer focuses on the image of fifteen-year-old Cio-Cio-san, who goes from a naive girl to a woman who has experienced a spiritual drama. Attention to the internal psychological action affects the leisurely flow of the opera, separate episodes serve as a contrast: the marriage ceremony, the curse of Bonza, the courtship of Prince Yamadori. Madama Butterfly is Puccini's first opera in which he tried to embody an "exotic" oriental flavor. The intonations of authentic Japanese melodies, Japanese bells and tom-toms in the orchestra - all this creates a unique aura of one of Puccini's most performed operas.