Madama Butterfly is staged at the Teatro Verdi in Padua

It is a tribute to Giacomo Puccini, in view of the centenary of his death (Brussels, 29 November 1924), the second title of the 2024 Opera Season.

Puccini’s sixth opera, with a libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, is defined in the score and libretto as a “Japanese tragedy”, which tells of the meeting and misunderstanding between Western and Eastern cultures, the latter seductively evoked through the use of traditional melodies and exotic instrumental combinations.

Puccini chose the subject after having attended the one-act tragedy Madame Butterfly by David Belasco at the Duke of York Theater in London in June 1900, which in turn was based on a story by the American John Luther Long entitled Madame Butterfly, which appeared in 1898.

From 1901, the composition proceeded with numerous interruptions: the orchestration was started in November 1902 and completed in September of the following year and only on 27 December 1903 could the work be said to be complete in all its parts. Madama Butterfly is the work of those who are not afraid of waiting and hold on strongly to their dreams, or to their illusions of a better future.

Dedicated to love until death, Cio-Cio-San embodies the hope of a “beautiful day” that, perhaps, may never arrive.

Booking at https://www.teatrostabileveneto.it/spettacolo/1020_858_madama_butterfly