Madama Butterfly

This show is based on a 1900 play by American playwright David Belasco, a famous producer-impresario who was called “The Bishop of Broadway”. Puccini saw the play in London in the summer of 1900; though he didn’t understand English, he certainly saw how powerful it was. His opera premiered on February 17, 1904 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Set in Nagasaki, Japan in the early twentieth century, the play is characterized by the clever integration of traditional Japanese themes with the souring nineteenth century Italian operatic tradition. It is an unrivaled masterpiece and remains among the most widely-produced operas today.