Madama Butterfly

In the organizer's words:

Japanese tragedy in three acts | Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica | In Italian with German surtitles

Duration: approx. 2 3/4 hours | One intermission | Ages 15 and up

Special offer! Holders of the Junge Oper Leipzig Card can purchase a ticket for all performances of "Madama Butterfly" in October 2024 directly in advance at the opera box office or in the webshop.

This opera, which Puccini himself regarded as his favorite and best work, leaves no one indifferent. In the summer of 1900, the composer experienced the play "Madame Butterfly" by David Belasco in a London theater, which made a lasting impression on him. It combined a human tragedy of almost antique proportions with the charms of a distant culture. Like Belasco's play, Puccini's opera, which premiered in 1904, is also set in the present day: in the form of the American naval lieutenant Pinkerton, the Western world breaks into Japanese society, which is firmly established and characterized by strict customs. The marriage of convenience that Pinkerton enters into with the young geisha Cio-Cio-San, known as "Butterfly", is an exotic love adventure for him. For Cio-Cio-San, it is the hope of a lifetime. Fascinated by the breath of another, freer world that surrounds her lover, she is ready to break with all previous ties. Undeterred, she believes in Pinkerton's return when he has long since left Japan. His visit to the island kingdom after three years leads to disaster.

With "Madama Butterfly", Puccini created one of the greatest masterpieces of his time, in which lyrical melodiousness, emotional intensity and exotic coloring flow together in a captivating way without obscuring the depiction of the truth. The production is directed by Aron Stiehl, who was celebrated in Bayreuth in summer 2013 for his staging of Wagner's "Liebesverbot" and also at the subsequent Leipzig premiere of this production.