Madama Butterfly Tickets

About Madama Butterfly

The original short story, "Madame Butterfly," written in 1898 by American lawyer John Luther Long, quickly caught the attention of both playright David Belasco, who adapted it to a one-act play, and opera composer Giacomo Puccini. Madama Butterfly premiered as a two-act opera on February 17, 1904, at La Scala in Milan, Italy. When Madama Butterfly received poor initial reviews, Puccini re-worked it into a three-act opera, and Madama Butterfly became the legend it is today!

Madama Butterfly tells the story of 15-year-old Japanese geisha Cio-Cio-San, or "Butterfly," who meets and marries American naval Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton in the city of Nagasaki. The American consul, Sharpless, tried to warn Pinkerton to not marry Butterfly on account of the latter's naivety of Pinkerton's intentions, but Pinkerton laughs at his concern. As Butterfly has renounced her ancestors' religion, she cannot return to her family. Three years later, Pinkerton's tour has ended, and he has returned to the United States. Butterfly's servant, Suzuki, worries that Pinkerton has abandoned her mistress, but Butterfly insists this isn't true. When Sharpless is sent with a letter from Pinkerton explaining his marriage to another woman, Butterfly is unable to read it and is instead overjoyed by the sight of a letter from Pinkerton. More attempts to convince Butterfly of the reality of the situation are unsuccessful, and Butterfly presents her child, Sorrow, as sure proof that Pinkerton will return.

In the final act of the opera, Pinkerton himself does return, but only to tell Suzuki that he has indeed abandoned Butterfly. Sharpless explains to Suzuki that Mrs. Pinkerton will care for the child if it is given up. Butterfly meets Mrs. Pinkerton and hears of the offer to care for Sorrow. In the climax of the opera, Butterfly accepts the offer, but tells her that her husband must be the one to take the child. Butterfly bids farewell to Sorrow and takes her father's dagger - with which he had committed suicide years earlier - and commits suicide herself. Pinkerton and Sharpless return and discover the dying Butterfly.

Madama Butterfly - Links

Madama Butterfly - What Critics Say

• "Who else could tear your heart out and leave you asking for more? Giacomo Puccini, perhaps more than any other opera composer, tears at the heart strings - sensually and beautifully." - Rutland Herald
• "There are few things in my job more exciting than being blown away by something you thought you knew backwards and weren't wildly looking forward to. But that was my happy experience in Leeds, where Opera North's terrific new Madama Butterfly reduced me to jelly and forcefully reminded me that this is a work of consummate theatrical genius - Puccini's masterpiece, and one of the defining artworks of the 20th century." - Telegraph
• "In this powerful and moving production Butterfly's long night wait is given its full measure, revealing Puccini at his most haunting and poignant." - Online Review London