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Madama Butterfly
Opéra Bastille - from 14 September to 13 November 2019
Madama Butterfly
Giacomo Puccini
Opéra Bastille - from 14 September to 13 November 2019
2h45 with 1 interval
Surtitle : French / English
About
In few words:
For his Madame Chrysanthème, Pierre Loti drew on memories of his own visit to Japan in 1885. When composing Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini was inspired by the popular melodies and sonorities of Japanese voices. However, in the literary work, as in the opera, the heroine remains the same: Kiku-san or Cio‑Cio‑san, a young geisha betrayed by her western husband, the symbol of the meeting of two different worlds. Robert Wilson’s ethereal production espouses to perfection the dramatic intensity and underlying violence of this thoroughly Japanese tragedy.
- Opening
- First part 50 mn
- Intermission 30 mn
- Second part 85 mn
- End
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Madama Butterfly
Opera in three acts
After David Belasco Based on a short novel by John Luther Long
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Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly)
Ana María Martínez(14, 19 Sept., 9, 19, 30 Oct., 2, 5, 8, 13 Nov.) -
Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly)
Dinara Alieva(12, 26, 29 Oct., 1, 6, 9 Nov.) -
Suzuki
Marie-Nicole Lemieux(14, 19 Sept., 30 oct., 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13 Nov) -
Suzuki
Eve-Maud Hubeaux(9, 12, 19, 26, 29 Oct.,1 Nov.) -
B.F. Pinkerton
Giorgio Berrugi(14, 19 Sept., 9, 19 Oct., 2, 5, 8, 13 Nov.) -
B.F. Pinkerton
Dmytro Popov(12, 26, 29, 30 Oct., 1, 6, 9 Nov.) -
Sharpless
Laurent Naouri -
Goro
Rodolphe Briand -
Il Principe Yamadori (Le Prince Yamadori)
Tomasz Kumiega -
Kate Pinkerton
Jeanne Ireland -
Lo Zio bonzo (Le Bonze)
Robert Pomakov -
Yakuside
Jian-Hong Zhao -
Il Commissario Imperiale
Chae Wook Lim -
L'Ufficiale del registro
Hyoung-Min Oh -
La madre di Cio-Cio San
Laura Agnoloni -
La Zia
Carole Colineau -
La Cugina
Sylvie Delaunay
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Performances
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Available in audiodescription
Advantages
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Book your tickets today with the Season Pass
Available in audiodescription
Advantages
Full
Gallery
Videos clips
Audio clips
Madame Butterfly (saison 19/20)- Acte II
Madame Butterfly (saison 19/20)- Acte III (Ana María Martínez)
Madame Butterfly (saison 19/20) - Acte II (Ana María Martínez, Laurent Naouri)
Madame Butterfly (saison 19/20)- Acte II (Ana María Martínez)
Backstage
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Video
Draw-me Madama Butterfly
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Article
The lighting for Madama Butterfly
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Podcast
Podcast Madame Butterfly
01:07’
Video
Draw-me Madama Butterfly
Understand the plot in 1 minute
For his Madame Chrysanthème, Pierre Loti drew on memories of his own visit to Japan in 1885. When composing Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini was inspired by the popular melodies and sonorities of Japanese voices. However, in the literary work, as in the opera, the heroine remains the same: Kiku-san or Cio‑Cio‑san, a young geisha betrayed by her western husband, the symbol of the meeting of two different worlds. Robert Wilson’s ethereal production espouses to perfection the dramatic intensity and underlying violence of this thoroughly Japanese tragedy.
© Elena Bauer / OnP
Article
The lighting for Madama Butterfly
A production, a memory
02’
Deputy head of the lighting department
“I know few other directors who place as much importance on lighting as Robert Wilson. He is present at every revival, requesting a significant number of lighting sessions to refine his lighting and enrich it with the experience gathered from other productions that have marked his personal development. I have worked with him on the lighting for Die Zauberflöte, Pelléas et Mélisande, and Madama Butterfly… Madama Butterfly was our first collaboration.
When you think about the lighting for Bob’s productions, the first thing that comes to mind is the cyclorama—that stretched canvas upstage which helps to create huge and highly homogenous luminous surfaces… It’s a key feature of his aesthetic which works to define the atmosphere on stage. He doesn’t use it in a descriptive or realistic way to depict the sky for example, as so many other directors do. It’s a dynamic form of lighting which evolves and adapt to the ebbs and flows of the drama: it turns red when the bonze storms furiously on stage to reproach Cio-Cio-San for having repudiated her family; it takes on a truly poetic shade of deep blue when the child, in all its fragility, walks on stage… This interaction between the lighting and the characters is one of the characteristics of Wilson’s aesthetic: there is a continuity between the different components of the production, namely, the libretto, the music, the direction of the actors, the lighting…
The lighting for “Butterfly” has evolved with the succession of revivals. The most remarkable aspect in that development is the trend toward cooler hues: He has less and less time for those warmer slightly amber-toned lights. He leans more towards blues. It’s a development which I can see in all his other productions. Does that mean that the atmosphere is more serious, more tragic? No. Not really. The crisp light blue of winter can be perfectly cheerful. If I had to describe that development, I would say that he is moving towards daylight…”
© Elena Bauer / OnP
Podcast
Podcast Madame Butterfly
"Dance! Sing! 7 minutes at the Paris Opera" - by France Musique
07’
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