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Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly

Giacomo Puccini

January 24 - February 16, 2025 Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
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Madama Butterfly

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

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Madama Butterfly

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

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A young Japanese woman faithfully awaits the return of her husband, an American naval officer. When he finally reappears years later, he brings with him the seeds of a heartbreaking tragedy. 

Soprano Eri Nakamura stars as Butterfly, while tenor Kang Wang portrays the feckless U.S. officer Pinkerton. Keri-Lynn Wilson conducts one of Puccini’s greatest scores, which remains unmatched for its beauty and dramatic intensity.

Butterfly is a vocal, dramatic feast

Steven Brown, Houston Chronicle

Synopsis in a Minute

The young Japanese geisha Cio-Cio San marries American naval lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton in a ceremony she takes to heart, but he does not. Three years after abandoning “Butterfly,” Pinkerton returns to Japan with his new wife and demands that Cio-Cio San give up her son to his American father. Realizing that she has lost everything, Cio-Cio San commits suicide. 

Performance Information

  • Performance time is approximately two hours and 50 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission
  • Sung in Italian with English SURTITLES™
A portrait of composer Giacomo Puccini

Composed By Giacomo Puccini

A portrait of composer Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Puccini

Born in Lucca, Italy on December 22, 1858;
died in Brussels, Belgium on November 29, 1924

Born in 1858 into a long line of musicians in the Italian town of Lucca, Giacomo Puccini was trained as an organist. At the age of 18, after hearing a performance of Aida, Puccini resolved to become an opera composer and eight years later he began his studies at the Milan Conservatory. Puccini was surrounded by compositional geniuses in Milan: one of his instructors was Amilcare Ponchielli (composer of the opera La Gioconda, 1876). He and Ponchielli shared accommodations with Pietro Mascagni (composer of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, 1890). In 1882 Puccini entered his first opera Le villi (The Witches) into a competition run by the publishing firm Sonzogno. It didn’t win but it garnered the attention of the publisher Giulio Ricordi, with whom Puccini was to enjoy a lifelong association.

Puccini wrote almost nothing but operas. A meticulous composer, he worked intensely on his scores, constantly revising his work until he was satisfied. Although his style is firmly rooted in the 19th-century Italian tradition, his later works reveal cosmopolitan musical tastes, including the influence of French impressionist composers.

Cast

A portrait of Eri Nakamura

Eri Nakamura

Cio-Cio San (Butterfly)
A portrait of Kang Wang

Kang Wang

Pinkerton

Hyona Kim

Suzuki

Michael Sumuel

Sharpless
A portrait of Julius Ahn

Julius Ahn

Goro
A portrait of Samuel Chan

Samuel Chan

Yamadori

Gene Wu

Bonze

Karoline Podolak

Kate Pinkerton

Creative

A portrait of Keri-Lynn Wilson

Keri-Lynn Wilson

Conductor

Michael Grandage

Original Director

Jordan Lee Braun

Revival Director

Christopher Oram

Original Set & Costume Designer

With the COC Orchestra and Chorus

Production from Houston Grand Opera

The COC Orchestra is generously sponsored by The Schulich Foundation and by W. Bruce C. Bailey

Presented at

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts