Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly

Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. The American naval lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton stops in Nagasaki. In the traditional Japanese house where he rents a room, he meets Cio-Cio-San, a young 15-year-old geisha known as "Madama Butterfly", whom he quickly marries. Three years have passed. Pinkerton has returned to the United States and Cio-Cio-San, who has remained faithful to him, has given birth to their son. She anxiously awaits his return...

A tragic destiny

When it premiered at La Scala in Milan on 17 February 1904, Giacomo Puccini’s "Japanese tragedy” — he had never set foot on the Japanese archipelago but had done extensive research after being inspired by David Belasco's play — was such a fiasco that it was immediately withdrawn from the programme. Reworked several times by the Italian composer, who refused to have it performed at La Scala during his lifetime, Madama Butterfly is now one of his most performed operas in the world. After adding Tosca to its repertoire in 2019, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence will mark the centenary of Puccini's death in 2024 with this new production, directed by Andrea Breth, a leading figure on the German-speaking stage, and conducted by Italian maestro Daniele Rustioni, music director of the Opéra de Lyon. Following her triumphant performance in the title role at the Paris Opera in 2015, the Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho reprises it here, setting a high standard with her masterful juxtaposition of tenderness and bravery, right up to the heroine's final sacrifice.