Metropolitan Opera in HD: Puccini’s Madam Butterfly

Anthony Minghella’s breathtaking production has thrilled audiences ever since its premiere in 2006. Two of the world’s foremost Butterflys, sopranos Kristine Opolais and Patricia Racette, share the title role. Tenors Massimo Giordano and Roberto Alagna sing Pinkerton, the naval officer who breaks Butterfly’s heart. Karel Mark Chichon conducts.

World premiere: Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1904. Met premiere: February 11, 1907. The title character ofMadama Butterfly—a young Japanese geisha who clings to the belief that her arrangement with a visiting American naval officer is a loving and permanent marriage—is one of the defining roles in opera. The story triggers ideas about cultural and sexual imperialism for people far removed from the opera house, and film, Broadway, and popular culture in general have riffed endlessly on it. The lyric beauty of Puccini’s score, especially the music for the thoroughly believable lead role, has made Butterfly timeless.