About this episode
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini. It premiered at Milan’s LaScala in 1903, and with a few revisions by Puccini after its opening, it has become one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. Inspired to make the story into an opera after seeing David Belasco’s play Madame Butterfly in London, Puccini created one of the most beloved characters in the world of opera. The story focuses on a young Japanese woman, Butterfly, who marries and American naval officer, Pinkerton, who is stationed in Nagasaki. The two marry, but have a very different understanding of the meaning of this cross-cultural marriage. These different understandings have tragic results for Butterfly. Puccini’s music is lush and powerful, at times including influences from America and Japan. In this episode of Opera for Everyone we discuss both the opera, and the popular stories which led to its creation.