Madama Butterfly (; Madame Butterfly) is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The Schickling catalog number is SC 74.
It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther Long, which, in turn, was based on stories told to Long by his sister Jennie Correll, and on the semi-autobiographical 1887 French novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti.Van Rij, Jan. Madame Butterfly: Japonisme, Puccini, and the Search for the Real Cho-Cho-San. Stone Bridge Press, Inc., 2001.Lane Earns, "Madame Butterfly: The Search Continues" , Opera Today 16 August 2007. Review of Van Rij's book on operatoday.comChadwick Jenna, "The Original Story: John Luther Long and David Belasco" on columbia.edu Long's version was dramatized by David Belasco as the one-act play Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan, which, after premiering in New York in 1900, moved to London, where Puccini saw it in the summer of that year.
The original version of the opera, in two acts, had its premiere on 17 February 1904 at La Scala in Milan. It was poorly received, despite having such notable singers as soprano Rosina Storchio, tenor Giovanni Zenatello and baritone Giuseppe De Luca in lead roles. This was due in part to a late completion by Puccini, which gave inadequate time for rehearsals. Puccini revised the opera, splitting the second act in two, with the Humming Chorus as a bridge to what became Act III, and making other changes. Success ensued, starting with the first performance on 28 May 1904 in Brescia.
Versions
Puccini wrote five versions of the opera. Each version is designated with the Schickling catalog number SC 74 with a letter suffix. The original two-act version (SC 74.A), which was presented at the world premiere at La Scala on 17 February 1904, was withdrawn after a disastrous premiere.Richard S Bogart and Mark D Lew, (eds.) Version 1: Cast of characters and libretto (in Italian) , 1904 G. Ricordi & C. and Boosey & Co. and Breyer Hermanos
Puccini then substantially rewrote it, this time splitting off the second half of the very long second act into a third act. This second version (SC 74.B) was performed on 28 May 1904 in Brescia, where it was a great success, with Solomiya Krushelnytska as Cio-Cio-San.Richard S Bogart and Mark D Lew, (eds.) Version 2 (Brescia, 1904): Cast of characters and libretto (in Italian) , 1904 G. Ricordi & C. and Boosey & Co.
It was the second version (SC 74.B) that premiered in the United States in 1906, first in Washington, D.C., in October, and then in New York in November, performed by Henry Savage's New English Opera Company (so named because it performed in English-language translations).
In 1906, Puccini wrote a third version (SC 74.C), which was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 11 February 1907.Richard S Bogart and Mark D Lew, (eds.), Version 3: (American, 1906). Cast of characters and libretto in Italian and English , 1906 Milano: G. Ricordi & C.
Later in 1907, Puccini made several changes in the orchestral and vocal scores, and this became the fourth version (SC 74.D).Richard S Bogart and Mark D Lew, (eds.), Version 4 (Paris, 1907): Cast of characters and libretto in Italian and English, with editors' notes , 1907 Milano: G. Ricordi & C.
Again in 1907, Puccini made his final revisions to the opera in a fifth version (SC 74.E), which has become known as the "Standard Version" and is the one that is most often performed today.Mark D Lew, Version 5: (The "Standard Version") , 1907 G. Ricordi & C.: New York – Milan – Rome – Naples – Palermo – London – Paris – Leipsig – Buenos Ayres – S. Paulo. 266 pp
The original 1904 version (SC 74.A) is still occasionally performed, however, such as for the opening of La Scala's 2016–17 season, on 7 December 2016, with Riccardo Chailly conducting. The intent was to recapture and present Puccini's original intended vision for the opera.
Performance history Premieres of versions of Madama Butterfly in major opera houses throughout the world include the Teatro de la Opera de Buenos Aires on 7 July 1904, under Arturo Toscanini, this being the first performance in the world outside Italy. As in the world premiere in Milan a few months earlier, the protagonist was Rosina Storchio.Korn, Francis and Sigal, Silvia (2010), Buenos Aires antes del Centenario 1904-1909, Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, ISBN 978-950-07-3218-5
The opera's first performance in Britain was in London on 10 July 1905 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, while the first US performance was presented in English on 15 October 1906, in Washington, D.C., at the Columbia Theater. The first performance in New York took place on 12 November of the same year at the Garden Theatre."The Savage Innocents", Part 2, The Opera Quarterly, Vol. 19, no. 1
The Metropolitan Opera first performed the opera on 11 February 1907 under the supervision of the composer with Geraldine Farrar as Cio-Cio-San, Enrico Caruso as Pinkerton, Louise Homer as Suzuki, Antonio Scotti as Sharpless, with Arturo Vigna conducting; Madama Butterfly has since been heard virtually every season at the Met except for a hiatus during World War II from 1942 through 1945 due to the hostilities between the United States and Japan.
The first Canadian performance was in April 1907 at Princess Theatre in Toronto by the H. W. Savage Company. The first Australian performance was presented at the Theatre Royal in Sydney on 26 March 1910, starring Amy Eliza Castles.
Between 1915 and 1920, Japan's best-known opera singer Tamaki Miura won international fame for her performances as Cio-Cio-San. A memorial to this singer, along with one to Puccini, can be found in the Glover Garden in the port city of Nagasaki, where the opera is set.
Roles +RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 17 February 1904Conductor: Cleofonte CampaniniBrescia cast, 28 May 1904Conductor: Cleofonte CampaniniCio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly)sopranoRosina StorchioSolomiya KrushelnytskaSuzuki, her maidmezzoGiuseppina GiaconiaB.F. Pinkerton, Lt. in the U.S. NavyHopkinson, Cecil. A Bibliography of the Works of Giacomo Puccini 1858–1924. Broude Brothers, 1968.tenorGiovanni ZenatelloGiovanni ZenatelloSharpless, U.S. consul at NagasakibaritoneGiuseppe De LucaGoro, a matchmakertenorGaetano Pini-CorsiPrince YamadoribaritoneEmilio VenturiniFernando Gianoli GallettiThe Bonze, Cio-Cio-san's unclebassGiuseppe Tisci-RubiniYakusidé, Cio-Cio-san's unclebassAntonio VolponiFernando Gianoli GallettiThe Imperial CommissionerbassAurelio VialeLuigi BolpagniThe Official RegistrarbassEttore GennariAnselmo FerrariCio-Cio-san's mothermezzoTina AlasiaSerena PattiniThe auntsoprano ?Adele BergamascoThe cousinsopranoPalmira MaggiCarla GrementieriKate PinkertonmezzoMargherita ManfrediEmma DecimaDolore ("Trouble", "Pain" in italian), Cio-Cio-san's sonsilentErsilia GhissoniErsilia GhissoniCio-Cio-san's relatives and friends and servants
Synopsis
Act 1
In 1904, a U.S. naval officer named Pinkerton rents a house on a hill in Nagasaki, Japan, for himself and his soon-to-be wife, "Butterfly". Her real name is Cio-Cio-San (from the Japanese word for ; -san is a plain honorific). She is a 15-year-old Japanese girl whom he is marrying for convenience, and he intends to leave her once he finds a proper American wife, since Japanese divorce laws are very lenient. The wedding is to take place at the house. Butterfly had been so excited to marry an American that she had earlier secretly converted from Buddhism to Christianity. After the wedding ceremony, her uninvited uncle, a bonze, who has found out about her conversion, comes to the house, curses her and orders all the guests to leave, which they do while renouncing her. Pinkerton and Butterfly sing a love duet and prepare to spend their first night together.
Act 2
Pinkerton left shortly after the wedding, and three years later, Butterfly is still waiting for him to return. Her maid Suzuki keeps trying to convince her that he is not coming back, but Butterfly does not believe her. Goro, the marriage broker who arranged her marriage, keeps trying to marry her off again, but she does not listen to him either. The American consul, Sharpless, comes to the house with a letter, which he has received from Pinkerton who asks him to break some news to Butterfly: that Pinkerton is not coming back to Japan. However, Sharpless cannot bring himself to finish it. Sharpless asks Butterfly what she would do if Pinkerton were not to return. She then reveals that she gave birth to Pinkerton's son after he had left and asks Sharpless to tell him.
From the hill house, Butterfly sees Pinkerton's ship arriving in the harbour. She and Suzuki prepare for his arrival, and then they wait. Suzuki and the child fall asleep, but Butterfly stays up all night waiting for him to arrive.
Act 3 Suzuki wakes up in the morning and Butterfly finally falls asleep. Sharpless and Pinkerton arrive at the house, along with Pinkerton's new American wife, Kate. They have come because Kate has agreed to raise the child. But, as Pinkerton sees how Butterfly has decorated the house for his return, he realizes he has made a huge mistake. He admits that he is a coward and cannot face her, leaving Suzuki, Sharpless, and Kate to break the news to Butterfly. Agreeing to give up her child if Pinkerton comes himself to see her, Butterfly prays before statues of her ancestral gods, says goodbye to her son, and blindfolds him. She places a small American flag in his hands and goes behind a screen, stabbing herself with her father's tantō. Pinkerton rushes in, but he is too late, and Butterfly dies.
Musical numbers
Act 1 1. Orchestral prelude. 2. E soffitto e pareti ("And ceiling and walls"). 3. Dovunque al mondo ("Throughout the world"). 4. Amore o grillo ("Love or fancy"). 5. Ancora un passo ("One step more"). 6. Gran ventura ("May good fortune attend you"). 7. L'Imperial Commissario ("The Imperial Commissioner"). 8. Vieni, amor mio! ("Come, my love!"). 9. Ieri son salita tutta sola ("Yesterday, I went all alone"). 10. Tutti zitti ("Quiet everyone"). 11. Madama Butterfly. 12. Cio-Cio-san!. 13. Bimba, Bimba, non piangere ("Sweetheart, sweetheart, do not weep"). 13A. Viene la sera ("Night is falling"). 14. Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia ("Sweetheart, with eyes full of enchantment"). (The long duet continues.) 15. Vogliatemi bene ("Love me, please.").
Act 2 16. E Izaghi ed Izanami ("And Izanagi and Izanami"). 17. Un bel dì, vedremo ("One fine day we shall see"). 18. C'e. Entrate. ("She is there. Go in."). 19. Yamadori, ancor le pene ("Yamadori, are you not yet..."). 20. Ora a noi. ("Now for us."). 21. Due cose potrei far ("Two things I could do"). 22. Ah! M'ha scordata? ("Ah! He has forgotten me?"). 23. Io scendo al piano. ("I will go now.") 24. Il cannone del porto! ("The cannon at the harbor!", often known as The Flower Duet). 25. Tutti i fior? ("All the flowers?"). 26. Or vienmi ad adornar ("Now come to adorn me"). 27. Coro a bocca chiusa ("Humming Chorus").
Act 3 28. Oh eh! Oh eh! ("Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"). 29. Già il sole! ("The Sun's come up!"). 30. Io so che alle sue pene ("I know that her pain"). 31. Addio, fiorito asil ("Farewell, flowery refuge"). 32. Suzuki! Suzuki! ("Suzuki! Suzuki!"). 33. Come una mosca ("Like a little fly"). 34. Con onor muore ("To die with honor"). 35. Tu? Tu? Piccolo iddio! ("You? You? My little god!").
Instrumentation