Madama Butterfly by Puccini, Sat 08 Jun 2024, From (2024/2024), Directed by Hendrik Müller,, Conductor Chin-Chao Lin, Meininger Theater, Meiningen, Germany

In opera, the name Puccini stands as a guarantee for captivating stories, touching destinies, stirring passions, rousing music. »Madama Butterfly« also betrays the composer's unerring instinct for outstanding operatic material. In London Puccini saw the celebrated one-act play »Madame Butterfly« by the successful American author Belasco. Although he didn't understand a word of English, he was deeply moved. The tragedy of the geisha Cio-Cio-San, who believes in the love and loyalty of the frivolous naval lieutenant Pinkerton to the last, as well as the exotic coloring, did not let him go. With Puccini, Cio-Cio-San is the center of the opera, he went even further than Belasco: as an additional dimension he added a basic ethnic conflict to the psychological drama. he succeeded to tell the development of his title character from the childishly naïve bride to the mature woman in a highly poignant way. As always with Puccini, it is the music that is "to blame" for not being able to escape the pull of the drama.