Madame Butterfly - Giacomo Puccini

The opera Madame Butterfly was staged for the first time in Milan's La Scala on February 17, 1904, with a failure in principle. The reasons for the “biggest fiasco in Puccini's career” (Piotr Kamiński, A Thousand and One Opera) were connected with the not very happy, original concept of the work, which assumed a division into two acts. After the failure, the composer changed the concept, made rearrangements of the work, decided on a three-act construction, in addition, he slightly shortened the whole, also added a new aria. This time the theater in Brescia was chosen for its re-premiere, where already on May 28 of the same 1904, the reworked opera won a great triumph, which continues uninterruptedly to this day. The story of the love of a young geisha for an American officer has been loved by generations of viewers and listeners.

The inspiration for Puccini was the play Madam Butterfly by David Belasco, which the composer saw in London. A big role, in addition to the interesting love plot, also played a big role here, of course, the Japanese aspect, which gave an invigorating breath of exoticism. Puccini tried to make specific references to the Japanese tradition, subtly using, among others, the pentatonic scale. The title character embodies sincere love, taking her marriage to Pinkerton seriously. American Lieutenant Pinkerton turns out to be a cynical and irresponsible man, for whom this “marriage” is only an excuse to seduce a young Japanese woman. The American consul Sharpless distances himself from Pinkerton's selfish stance, but no one or nothing can prevent the impending tragedy. It is the subtle and faithful Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly) who, according to her fate and with the Japanese, honorable tradition, will pay the highest price for the soulless whim of the American. (Artur Bielecki, Deadly Bitter Romance from the Land of the Cherry Blossom, Wrocław Opera 2015)

The author of the directorial concept of Madame Butterfly staged at the Wrocław Opera is Giancarlo del Monaco. The director takes the action to the second half of the 1940s, to the period after the atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima. The show will be held in the convention of black and white film. In the final scene, Butterfly, killing herself, sees her child being kidnapped. This ending of the work intensifies the tragedy of the title character and shows that Cio-Cio-San's sacrifice was in vain.