Brescia, this time to huge success. rich Puccini score, are the main focus of this
The version that we hear today is one of the gripping opera.
most frequently produced operas in the entire As Arthur Lazere writes for culturevulture.
repertory. Butterfl y is a staple of the standard net, “The stage for the tragedy is set. We meet
operatic repertoire for companies around the the beauteous Cio-Cio San, not a complete
world and it is the most-performed opera in the innocent - she has been a geisha, after all – but
United States, where it ranks as Number 1 in nonetheless fragile, unworldly, and in love with
Opera America’s list of the 20 most-performed the handsome sailor. She deceives herself,
operas in North America. despite abundant warnings, as to Pinkerton’s
Unlike most other operas, Butterfl y is motives.
intimate, devoid of spectacle, taking place The tale unfolds with well written dialogue,
entirely in one house in Nagasaki. The opera sung to music which captures the feelings of
presents just one straight plot; a basic love love and yearning and pain, raising the entire
story ‘girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl commits experience into the realm of great art, transcen-
hara kiri’. Uncomplicated by subplots Butterfl y dently moving. This simply plot provides the
and her Captain Pinkerton (a dashing United vehicle for the arias of love and loss and hope
States Navy offi cer), both characterized by the and despair, the stuff of which the very best
ets Boy
operatic music is made”.
Film versions of Madama Butterfl y include
a 1932 ‘modernized’ Hollywood version of Be-
lasco’s play, with Sylvia Sidney and Cary Grant.
The opera on fi lm appeared in 1955 in an Italian
/Japanese production. In 1996 Sony Classical
distributed a French sponsored fi lm sung in Ital-
ian with english subtitles, directed by Frederica
Mitterand (nephew of the president) with the
Orchestra de Paris conducted by James Conlon
of the Met.
The heart breaking drama of Puccini’s most
tragic heroine is played in Lyric Opera’s produc-
tion by the Korean soprano Jee Hyun Lim. Miss
Lim has received huge acclaim at the New York
City Opera for her interpretation of this role and
has received standing ovations in Dublin for her
previous performances for her portrayal of his
Cio-Cio San. The production also features Irish
and international soloists and the Lyric Opera
Chorus directed by Vivian Coates.
Madama Butterfl y Sat 20/Sun 21 and Tues 23
February 2010 at 7.30pm. Tickets from €25
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