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A quick overview of Puccini’s 1904 tragic opera.

Premiered

1904

Music by

Giacomo Puccini

Libretto by

Luigi Illica and
Giuseppe Giacosa

Language

Italian

The sun rises on turn-of-the-century Nagasaki, Japan, where dashing American naval officer Pinkerton has chosen delicate Cio-Cio-San to be his bride. A naïve young geisha on the verge of womanhood, the clearly smitten and fiercely loyal “Butterfly” dismisses warnings of the lieutenant’s ulterior motives. When betrayal inevitably strikes and Butterfly must endure both shame and sorrow, she decides to take destiny into her own hands—leading to one of the most devastating and legendary final scenes in all of opera.

While in London supervising Tosca, Puccini became enamored of the story of Madama Butterfly after watching a performance of David Belasco’s play of the same name. Despite setbacks after a painful car accident in February 1903, Puccini managed to finish the score by late December. While composing the opera during his long convalescence, Puccini became fascinated with Japanese culture and worked to include “authentic” Japanese motives and folk songs in his final work.

Once the opera was ready for the stage, rehearsals at Teatro alla Scala went smoothly, and preparations for the premiere looked positive. But nothing could have prepared Puccini for the unmitigated disaster of the premiere—the opening night of Madama Butterfly is famously one of the biggest fiascos in opera history.

The La Scala audience made its displeasure at Puccini’s new opera evident with “growls, shouts, groans, laughter, giggling,” as Ricordi later wrote. Puccini commented, “[t]hose cannibals didn’t listen to one note. But my Butterfly remains what it is: the most deeply-felt and imaginative opera I have conceived!” Disgraced, Puccini immediately withdrew the opera from La Scala and began revising.

Three months later, the revised version was ready and opened in Brescia in late May. This time, the audience was spellbound, and the applause was thunderous. Puccini received ten curtain calls, and the opera quickly attained a position as one of the most celebrated works in the operatic repertory.

Puccini felt it was important to be as accurate as possible when recreating turn-of-the-century Japan and he conducted extensive research, listened to indigenous Japanese folk songs, and interviewed Japanese artists. Thanks to his studies, you may hear a few Japanese terms throughout the opera, even though most of the performance will be sung in Italian (with some occasional English thrown in). Here’s a few of the Japanese words used in Madame Butterfly:

Kami – a word used in prayer that means “god” or “spirit”
Izaghi and Izanami – Italianization of “Izanagi” and “Izanami,” the mythic gods who created the islands of Japan
Bonzo – Italianization of “Bonze,” a term for a Buddhist monk
Nakodo – a matchmaker or marriage negotiator
Mikado – a Japanese emperor
Shosi – Italianization of “shoji,” which refers to a paper screen door, such as the one Butterfly punches holes into to be able to watch for Pinkerton

Act I

United States Navy Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton is ringing in the twentieth century in a new country, and he’s hungry for adventure. Stationed in Nagasaki, Japan, he decides to employ a professional matchmaker named Goro and set up house with a Japanese wife. Goro has the perfect bride in mind—a sweet local girl named Cio-Cio-San, who’s so young and delicate she’s known to her friends as “Madam Butterfly.”

The wedding day arrives, and Pinkerton toasts his future with Sharpless, the American consul. Pinkerton remarks that Japanese customs allow him to break his marriage contract at any time, which is good news for him since he doesn’t like being tied down. Sharpless, however, warns that Butterfly may take the whole thing a bit more seriously.

Cio-Cio-San enters, very obviously in love with her husband-to-be, and introduces Pinkerton to her family. When questioned about her history, she explains she used to be wealthy, but has since had to make her living as a geisha (or paid companion). Pinkerton is mildly concerned when he notices Butterfly carries a sharp knife with her, but Goro indicates she keeps it in memory of her father, who stabbed himself on the orders of the Japanese emperor. Still, despite her ties to the past, Butterfly declares it is her destiny to renounce her own customs and her Buddhist religion so she can be a proper American woman.

The ceremony continues, and all seems well until Cio-Cio-San’s uncle, a Buddhist monk, interrupts the party. He brutally admonishes her for abandoning her family and her faith and then publicly curses and disowns her. Pinkerton chases him away; and, as evening falls, Butterfly declares Pinkerton is the only family she’ll ever need.

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Listen to the Story

Adolfo Hohenstein (1854–1928), Poster for Madama Butterfly, 1914 [].

Presented by Washington National Opera, host Saul Lilienstein takes you through the musical world of Puccini’s 1904 tragic love story, Madam Butterfly.

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