Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly
An opera in three acts. Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica after the play Madame Butterfly by David Belasco, which was in turn based on the short story of the same name by John Luther Long.
First performance at La Scala, Milan on February 17, 1904; revised version premiered in Brescia on May 28, 1904.
The new Savonlinna Opera Festival production for 2009 is one of the most popular in the operatic repertoire. While on leave in Nagasaki, an American Lieutenant by the name of Pinkerton falls in love with a Japanese girl called Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly). He wishes to enjoy her company and, so as not to sully her reputation, agrees to marry her. Before the wedding she converts to Christianity and for this is cursed by her family. Pinkerton comforts her but soon returns to his homeland. Butterfly faithfully awaits him. Three years pass and Pinkerton is again in Nagasaki, this time with his American wife. When he hears that Butterfly has given birth to a child, he sends his wife to fetch the baby because he does not have the courage to do so himself. As the truth dawns on Butterfly, she takes her last farewell of her child and stabs herself.
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