The sensational opera by the great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, “Madama Butterfly”, as presented by the Metropolitan Opera of New York (MET), starring the extraordinary soprano Ashmick Grigorian, will be screened, recorded and with Greek subtitles, on Saturday, May 25 at 19:00: 55 at the Athens Concert Hall, as part of the MET HD LIVE satellite broadcasts.
The timeless opera had its world premiere at La Scala in Milan in 1904. Madama Butterfly, the young Japanese geisha who is led into a sham marriage – by matchmaking – with an American naval officer whom she falls madly in love with, is one of the most important roles in the history of opera.
In addition to its impressive international popular appeal over 120 years, Giacomo Puccini’s lyrical work has often sparked reflections on cultural and gender expansionism, and has been the inspiration for film and Broadway performances.
The lyrical beauty of Puccini’s score, and in particular the music he wrote for the play’s highly realistic protagonist, has made Madama Butterfly enduringly popular.
The story is set in Nagasaki at the dawn of the 20th century, the period of the promotion of American presence around the world, when Japan was reluctantly trying to define its international role in the world at the time. Indeed, at that time, as Nagasaki was one of the few ports in the country open to foreign fleets, it was common practice, in Japan, to perform temporary marriages to foreign seamen.
In this heartbreaking tragedy, the leading Italian composer elevates the role of the orchestra, writing a score of rare subtlety that focuses almost entirely on the protagonist. The role of Cho-Cho-San, which evolves continuously throughout the work, is extremely demanding for the soprano.
The protagonist is constantly on stage and is called upon to express, through her performance, a wide range of emotions and to transform herself from an ethereal creature into a desperate woman confronted with insanity in the opera’s finale.
In the major production of the MET, tenor Jonathan Tettelman plays the cruel US naval officer Pinkerton, who betrays the loyal geisha Cho-Cho-San, leading her to destruction. Middle-voiced Elizabeth DeSong once again portrays the loyal maid Suzuki, while baritone Lucas Meachem plays the American consul Sharpless.
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The MET orchestra is conducted by conductor Sian Zhang. In Anthony Mingella’s glittering production, the production is directed and choreographed by Carolyn Choa. The sets were designed by Michael Levine.
Costumes are by Han Feng, lighting by Peter Mumford, and the Blind Summit Theatre puppet company is participating.
