'Madama Butterfly' to open Shanghai Grand Theater's new season
The Shanghai Grand Theater will open its 2024-25 season with three opera performances of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" on August 9-11.
"Madama Butterfly," which is co-produced by the Shanghai Opera House, the Royal Opera House in the United Kingdom, and the Shanghai Grand Theater, will feature international singers and artists. Xu Zhong, director and conductor of the Shanghai Opera House, will lead the chorus and orchestra for the performance.
"Madama Butterfly" is co-produced by Shanghai Opera House, Royal Opera House and Shanghai Grand Theater.
"Madama Butterfly" marks the third collaboration between the Shanghai Opera House, Royal Opera House, and Shanghai Grand Theater after "La Traviata" in 1999 and the China premiere of "Manon Lescaut" in 2014.
"After two years of preliminary communication, ten months of work, and more than 20 days of tense rehearsals, we are presenting this modern version of 'Madama Butterfly' on the 100th anniversary of Puccini's death," said Shanghai Grand Theater general manager Zhang Xiaoding.
Zhang revealed that 90 percent of the tickets had already sold out.
The story is set in Japan.
"This version of 'Madama Butterfly' has been very popular," Royal Opera House executive director Cormac Simms said.
"Its artistic conception is beautiful and moving with a clear storyline. The sad ending cannot cover up the beauty of Puccini's music. Although its background is set in Japan, the story is universal," he said.
Puccini was emotionally moved when he saw American playwright David Belasco's one-act drama "Madama Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan" in London in 1900. He wrote the opera "Madama Butterfly" with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
The cast features international singers.
"Madama Butterfly" premiered in 1904 at Milan's Teatro alla Scala. It was hailed as an immortal work after five revisions.
This Shanghai version, which is directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, was created in 2003.
Actors' makeup and poses have been adjusted as per Japanese traditions.
"This will be the first time I perform Cio-Cio-San outside of Europe," said Italian soprano Federica Vitali. Cio-Cio-San was her first major opera performance.
This version of "Madama Butterfly" was created in 2003.
"I didn't quite understand the role at first, but after I got into Japanese culture, I realized that in their culture, if a person loses her dignity, she would rather give up her life," she said.
The stage props and costumes were fully made in Shanghai, eliminating the need to transport them between Europe and China. To assure the production's authenticity, the Royal Opera House sent backstage staff to help the Shanghai crew.
The stage props and costumes were made in Shanghai.
Performance info
Dates: August 9-10, 7:15pm; August 11, 2pm
Tickets: 180-1,080 yuan
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater 上海大剧院
Address: 300 People's Ave 人民大道300号
