CHIO-CHIO-SAN (MADAMA BUTTERFLY)

Opera in two acts (three scenes)

Libretto by L. Illik and D. Giakoza

Characters:

Cio-Cio-san (Madame Butterfly) Suzuki, Cio-Cio-san's servant Pinkerton, lieutenant in the US Navy Kat, his wife Sharpless, American Consul Goro, matchmaker Prince Yamadori Bonze Commissioner Registry Officer Son of Cio-Cio-san

soprano mezzo-soprano tenor soprano baritone tenor tenor bass bass no speeches no speeches

Relatives, friends, girlfriends and servants of Cio-Cio-san.

The action takes place in Nagasaki (Japan) at the end XIX century.

HISTORY OF CREATION

The opera Cio-Cio-san (Madama Butterfly) is based on a short story by the American writer John L. Long, revised by D. Belasco into a drama. Having seen the play during his stay in London, Puccini was moved by its lifelike veracity. At his suggestion, librettists L. Illik (1859-1919) and D. Giacosa (1847-1906) wrote an opera libretto based on the drama. Music was soon created. At the first performance, which took place on February 17, 1904 in Milan, the opera, however, failed and was withdrawn from the repertoire. The audience did not understand its content and was outraged by the excessive length of the second act. Puccini shortened some numbers, divided the second act into two independent acts. Performed with these minor changes three months later, the opera was a triumphant success and quickly gained a solid reputation as one of the most popular contemporary operas.

The appeal to the plot from the life of distant Japan corresponded to the widespread in European art of the end XIX and early XX centuries of attraction to the exotic, the desire of artists to enrich their palette with new colors. But Puccini did not set himself the special task of reproducing the national Japanese flavor in music. The main thing for him was the image of a touching human drama. In its embodiment, the composer managed not only to preserve, but also to deepen the content of the literary source.

MUSIC

The opera "Cio-Cio-san" is a lyrical drama that fully and many-sidedly reveals the image main character. The alternation of melodious cantilena arias and expressive recitatives combined into wide scenes, which is generally characteristic of Puccini's operatic style, is especially characteristic of Cio-Cio-san. The music of the opera uses several authentic Japanese melodies, organically woven into the musical fabric.

The first act opens with an energetic introduction. Pinkerton's aria "The Yankee Drifter" is marked by courageous, strong-willed features. The lyrical melody of Pinkerton's arioso "Caprice il Passion" sounds ardent and enthusiastic. The rapture of love is permeated with the arioso of Cio-Cio-san "He calls me here for a reason." A large ensemble with a choir conveys the contrasting feelings of the participants: Sharpless's fears and the recognition of Pinkerton in love, the admiration or disappointment of the others. Humility and humility are heard in Cio-Cio-san's arioso. "Yes, before your fate." With the advent of Bonza, the music takes on a tinge of ominous menace. The duet of Pinkerton and Cio-Cio-san breathes languid bliss.

The beginning of the first scene of the second act is full of anxiety and anxiety. Sadly agitated mournful music accompanies the dialogue between Butterfly and Suzuki. The aria Butterfly is filled with a passionate dream of happiness"Wishful on a clear day." The sad appeal to his son “That I will have to take you in my arms” is replaced by a sincere arioso “Let the flowers be their petals”. The final chorus, singing without words, conveys the stillness of the night.

The orchestral introduction to the second scene (second act) 1 anticipates the fatal denouement with its drama. The light and calm orchestral episode that follows him depicts the sunrise. The music of the tercet captures Sharpless's perseverance, Suzuki's fright and despair, and Pinkerton's remorse. Pinkerton's arioso "Farewell, my peaceful haven" is filled with sadness. The scene that follows is saturated with a sense of alertness and anxious expectation. Butterfly's last arioso, "And I, I'm going far," is imbued with calm determination. The final chords of the opera sound mournfully majestic.

1 This picture is usually given as an independent third act.

Its name is symbolic: the age of the “moth girl” (this is how the English Butterfly is translated) is short-lived, happiness is fleeting.

The main character, still a very young Japanese geisha, Cio-Cio-san, was temporarily bought by an American Navy lieutenant, Pinkerton, who left her very soon. The deal has the appearance of marriage, but the marriage contract concluded by an American in Japan "for 999 years" is not valid in America.

Puccini was very fond of his "Japanese tragedy", considering it one of his best achievements. The more dramatic for him was the failure of the premiere of "Madama Butterfly" (Milan, theater "La Scala", February 17, 1904), which repeated fate. Three months later, a new, three-part version of the opera was staged, this time in Bolshoi Theater Brescia. Her triumphant success fully rewarded the composer for his failure at La Scala.

The action takes place in Nagasaki at the very beginning of the 20th century, so the plot made it possible to show pictures of Japanese life. In this regard, the composer's interest in Eastern culture corresponded to the general artistic trends at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when the passion for non-European exoticism captured the whole of Europe.

Puccini became the first Western European composer to discover the world of Japan in music. Like , he did not strive for ethnographic authenticity, but tried to convey in music his artistic sense of Japan. How convincing Puccini's Japan is can be judged by the enormous popularity that Madama Butterfly enjoys among the Japanese themselves. And yet, the main task of the composer was not a stylization of Japanese culture, but the disclosure of a human drama - the tragedy of a young woman who was deprived of everything, even her own son (having learned that he had a child, Pinkerton came with his American wife to take him with him ).

Of all Puccini's operas, Madama Butterfly is perhaps the most deserving of the title of lyrical-psychological drama. The image of the fragile Cio-Cio-san has become the richest, deeply developed female character in the composer's creative heritage. Throughout the opera, the heroine does not leave the stage; it is her fate that is placed at the center of the intersection of all conflict situations. This is the only active face of the drama, which, in fact, has no antagonists, because, unlike in Madama Butterfly, there is no violent struggle of opposing forces. The entire "civilized world" surrounding Cio-Cio-san is hostile.

By switching the main conflict of the composition from the everyday plane to the ethical, moral, Puccini elevates the melo-drama to tragedy. The main thing that Cio-Cio-san has to fight with throughout the opera is the disbelief of others. Violating the customs of her country, renouncing the faith of her ancestors and adopting Christianity, she broke ties with the past. Abandoned by her family, cursed by Bonza (a Japanese priest), she indignantly rejects the courtship of the wealthy Prince Yamadori: Madame Butterfly remains faithful to her husband. She is supported only by an unshakable faith in her ideal, which is why the betrayal of a loved one, the death of an ideal does not leave her a chance for life. She agrees to give the boy away ("The Father's will is sacred"), but after saying goodbye to her son, she kills herself with a blow from her father's dagger.

All the main psychological climaxes of the opera are connected with the image of Cio-Cio-san:

• V I action- the moment of her first appearance with her friends and a duet with Pinkerton, the only love scene of the opera;
• V first scene of act II- two arias. The first - “Desired on a clear day” (Ges-dur) - is perhaps Puccini's best female aria. This is a mono-scene that Cio-Cio-san plays in front of Suzuki, imitating the episode of Pinkerton's return. The second aria, addressed to the son, forms a contrast with the first at a distance. It is distinguished by an extremely gloomy coloring (the tonality is already indicative - as-moll) and a pronounced oriental flavor. Cio-Cio-san again introduced herself as a geisha, forced to sing and dance;
• in the final scene second painting Act II - Butterfly's farewell to her son, full of dramatic expression.

To these lyrical heights the entire inner movement of music is directed. Love - expectation - the collapse of illusions - death - these are the main phases of the psychological drama of the heroine.

Other characters, including Pinkerton, play, in essence, an auxiliary role. This most important feature of "Madama Butterfly" brings it closer to the "drama of one hero", which was developed in the 20th century.

The complex development of the psychological line, the dynamics of the "underwater" action in "Madama Butterfly" compensates for the relative static nature of the external stage dramaturgy. The genre sphere is presented mainly in act I (the episode of the inspection of the house and the introduction of the servants, the appearance of the consul, the ensemble of relatives Cio-Cio-san). With a sharp dissonance in the peaceful atmosphere of wedding congratulations, the appearance of Bonza suddenly wedged in, cursing Butterfly for apostasy.

The vocal sphere of the opera is dominated by solo forms (arioso, monologues) and dialogic scenes with Puccini's characteristic easy transitions from recitative and recitation to cantilena of wide breathing. The ensembles are represented by two extended duets Butterfly - with Pinkerton (I act) and with Suzuki (1st scene of Act II). Larger ensembles and the choir are used sparingly.

While working on the opera, Puccini studied the traditions of Japanese culture, religious rites, everyday life, and collections of Japanese folk songs. He listened to about 100 phonograms of Japanese folk music, listening to the peculiarities of the national recitation. The composer tried to emphasize the phonetic originality of the dialect of a Japanese woman in the recitatives of Cio-Cio-san and Suzuki.

Puccini cited seven authentic folk melodies in his music, for example, in the episode of the first appearance of Cio-Cio-san (a graceful "spring song" instrumented with gentle timbres of harp, piccolo flute and bells), in Suzuki's prayer, in the theme of Prince Yamadori (II action).

In addition, relying on characteristic folklore turns, Puccini creates his own themes in the Japanese manner (the theme of Cio-Cio-san-geisha, the horn theme from the symphonic intermission before the 2nd scene of Act II).

The orchestra "Madama Butterfly" includes Japanese bells (in the marriage scene), Japanese tom-toms, which have a sound of a certain height, widely use bells, a flute.

The Western world in the music of the opera is also indicated by a quotation. This is the opening phrase of the American national anthem, which opens Pinkerton's aria in act I (its music paints an image of a carefree Yankee who seeks to "pick flowers wherever possible"). The melody of the American anthem "voiced" and the toast "America forever" proclaimed by Pinkerton. Later, she appears in the Cio-Cio-san party, emphasizing her naive belief in the justice of American laws.

As we approach the fatal denouement, the course of action becomes more and more intense, the pace of development accelerates, the significance of sinister, fatal themes. Among them stands out the harsh, aggressive theme of the curse, based on the parallel whole-tone movement of major thirds in a dotted rhythm. Appearing many times, especially in Act II, it acquires the meaning of a rock theme.

Two more important topics operas are connected with the dagger with which Father Butterfly once made himself a hara-kiri and which is destined to play a fatal role in the fate of the heroine. The first of the themes, based on sharp trichord intonations in the interval of an increased fourth, is not repeated in the future, but becomes an intonational source for other themes. The second, in fact, the leitmotif of the father's suicide - a formidable, somewhat archaic melody of an oriental character - will sound in the final scene of the opera.

Impressionist tendencies are clearly felt in the harmony and orchestration of Madama Butterfly: the widespread use of an enlarged mode with characteristic whole-tone sequences of major thirds, chains of enlarged triads; diverse forms of parallel movement, including seventh and nonchords.

Many features of the harmonic sphere are associated with the transfer of local color: reliance on pentatonic and trichord intonations, empty fifths (often parallel).

The original version of the opera consisted of two acts. The second, very lengthy, was now divided into two pictures (sometimes called actions). The two paintings are connected by a symphonic intermission, which is one of the most significant and striking orchestral episodes in all of Puccini's operatic work. Many important themes of the opera take place here.

Summary of the opera in the monologues of its characters FIRST ACT

O love!
Seagull quickly rushed for a loved one
In a straight line!
Her path was instantaneous and bright,
Like a ray of sunshine at dawn.
Omara Yuriko

Pinkerton Monologue What is that Goro talking about? Ah, about the merits of a new house... You'd think I'm going to live in it forever. And what are these strange stuffed animals? Servants? Well, well, - this girl is even nothing.
It would rather be over. I want only one thing - to be alone with the Butterfly doll!
Thank God there is at least one normal person, Sharpless, American. There is someone to drink for a distant homeland, to chat. But he does not understand the soul of a sailor. However, at his age it is excusable to patronize young girls in a paternal way. All his reasoning is nonsense. I'm in love, and so is she.
Beauty! How many young, graceful girls! A flower garden, no, a flock of butterflies ... But my Butterfly is the most charming among them. What is she telling Sharpless? From rich family, father died, became a geisha. All this is in the past. She is only fifteen years old.
I will reveal to her the joy of love. She will be happy.
My God, what a strange line of ridiculous people! My new relatives are exactly hired funny clowns. My Butterfly among them is like a swan in a flock of crows. But Sharpless is right, she takes everything too seriously. Accept my faith, pray to God alone ... However, if she wants it ...
Japan is a wonderful country. What marvelous marriage contracts - they can be terminated at any time. And the ceremony is short - that's the beauty of it. It would be better if everyone dispersed.
And what is this screaming? What a freak? What is he shouting about renunciation? Are they giving up Cio-Cio-san? Well, so much the better.
- Let's get out of here!
Finally we are alone. I'm sorry the girl was so upset. But I will console her. She is so gentle, so sweet. I love her! How I want her to be mine as soon as possible. My butterfly, you are in my hands!
- Let's go faster! Let's fly!

INTERMISSION
SECOND ACT Like a weeping crane in the darkness of the black night,
Only his cry is heard from afar -
Will I also cry
Only hearing about you from distant countries
And never see you here again!
Casa

Monologue of Suzuki, Cio-Cio-san's maid- Pray for Butterfly. She has been waiting for her husband for three years. And he's all gone. There is no money either. What will we live on? But she believes, still stubbornly believes - Pinkerton will return, he promised ... Dear, naive Butterfly, do American husbands come back ...
Consul Sharpless arrived. What news did he bring? Brought a letter from Pinkerton. What does he write? Ah, Butterfly is so impatient, does not let you finish reading. Is her husband really coming back?
Again it was the insufferable Goro who brought the prince. He woo Butterfly. But Yamadori already had two dozen wives. Although ... He is rich, noble. And he's Japanese. Maybe it's for the best.
But Butterfly does not want to hear about a new husband. What a performance she put on! Yes, she just laughs at this swaggering prince.
Well, everyone's gone. The Consul can finally read the letter to the end. But Butterfly again does not listen, she is sure - Pinkerton will come!
But why does Sharpless ask such a strange question: "What will you do if your husband does not return?"
Poor Butterfly! She is in despair. Runs after his son. Sharpless sees him for the first time. Pinkerton does not know that his son is growing up, and when he finds out, he will rush here at full sail. Butterfly is sure of it. Sharpless promises to tell Pinkerton about his son.
Who is laughing? This is Goro, he heard everything. He eavesdropped and now mocks Butterfly, her loyalty, her hopes. Butterfly grabbed a dagger. God, she's going to kill him! But no, she just freaked out. What an abomination this Goro!
Shot in port. This is what happens when a ship comes in. Butterfly runs to watch. So it is - this is a ship, a Pinkerton ship! So he's back. So, it was not in vain that so many tears were shed, it was not in vain that she waited! What happiness! We need to decorate the house with flowers. May there be many flowers! Now dress up the Butterfly and the boy.
When is Pinkerton coming? In one hour? In two? In the morning?
What a wonderful evening!

THIRD ACT Fallen leaves with colors
Only the wind walks
In a monotonous world.
Basho

Monologue Cio-Cio-san- Morning. It's morning already. What a short and what a long night...
Did not come. But he will come. I know. Will definitely come!
Need to get some rest. My little son is very tired. I'll put him to sleep.
But what is it? Some voices. He came! Came!
- Suzuki! Suzuki! Where is he, where is he?
No. How strange. But was he here? What are Sharpless and this woman doing here?
Why is Suzuki crying? What's happened? Sharpless says the woman is Pinkerton's wife. No, it can't be. Is it all the end? How painful, how scary. But why did she come here? Ah, I understand. She wants to take her son. Wants to take him far, far away. Forever. This is the will of the husband. How happy she is, this woman ... Well, if he decided so, I agree. It will be better this way. Just let him come for him. In one hour. Gone…
Everything is over. Light hurts the eyes!
Here is the treasured dagger. "He who cannot live with honor dies with honor."
The clatter of little feet. You, you, my son! My little deity, my beloved! You will never know that for your sake, for your pure eyes, your mother is dying. So that you can go there, across the sea, and not be tormented when you grow up that you left me. Look, look carefully at your mother's face, remember it. Farewell, farewell my beloved! Go, go, play!
And I'm going far.

Show summary

Opera in three (originally in two) acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto (in Italian) by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, based on the drama of the same name by David Belasco, which in turn is an adaptation of a short story by John Luther Long.

Characters:

MADAME BUTTERFLY (CHIO-CHIO-SAN) (soprano)
SUZUKI, her maid (mezzo-soprano)
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PINKERTON, US Navy lieutenant (tenor)
KAT PINKERTON, his wife (mezzo-soprano)
SHARPLEUS, US Consul in Nagasaki (baritone)
GORO, broker-matchmaker (tenor)
PRINCE YAMADORI, rich Japanese (baritone)
UNCLE CHIO-CHIO-SAN, bonza (bass)
COMMISSIONER (bass)
REGISTRY OFFICER (baritone)

Action time: around 1900.
Location: Nagasaki.
First performance: Milan, Teatro alla Scala, February 17, 1904.

The three most popular Italian operas, included in the repertoire of all opera houses - The Barber of Seville, La Traviata and Madama Butterfly - failed miserably at their premieres, and of these three, perhaps Madama Butterfly failed with the greatest noise. ". Everyone, from the composer and the main participants of the performance to the musicians and props, had no doubts about the triumph of the author of Manon Lescaut, La bohème and Tosca. However, even the magnificent music accompanying the first performance of Butterfly (whose part was sung by the great Rosina Storchio) was met with a formidable silence in the hall. And the silence of the Italian public is the most sinister thing that can be. Later, in the course of the first act, shouts were heard: “This is from La bohemia ... Give us something new!” The whistle accompanied the closing of the curtain after the first act, and then, at the very beginning of the second act, a draft blew up Storchio's dress, someone shouted: "Butterfly is pregnant!" And then followed a flurry of booing, mooing, crowing and other obscenities. Newspaper columnists were, on the whole, a little more polite.

Puccini, discouraged and depressed, canceled the second planned performance at La Scala, although this meant paying a significant forfeit, took the score, made a large number of changes to it, the main of which was the division of the long second act. And now there are three acts in the opera. Three and a half months later, a revised version of the opera was performed in Brescia under the baton of Arturo Toscanini.

Now the opera was a huge success. In the first act, the audience applauded the scenery and demanded an encore of Pinkerton's little aria, as well as the entire duet. Then four more numbers of the opera were performed as an encore, and after each of them - completely in the Italian manner - the composer went on stage to bow with the singers. "Never again," to quote Georges Marek, Puccini's best biographer, "Madama Butterfly" failed.

Why first failure and then triumph? This cannot be explained, as in the case of La Traviata, by the composition of the performers: the Butterfly troupe was absolutely first class. Perhaps - such an assumption was also expressed - the booing of the opera was inspired by the composer's enemies, as happened with the Barber of Seville. I rather think that this, however, would rather be attributed to the nature of the Italian operatic audience, for which there is nothing more pleasant than to openly express their opinions - no matter if they are right or wrong.

ACT I

At the turn of the century, about forty-five years before the atomic bomb destroyed Nagasaki, this port city was a rather pleasant place. On the hillside overlooking the bay stands a charming Japanese villa. In her garden, where the opera begins, a Japanese real estate dealer and an American naval officer have come. This is a merchant Goro, a broker-matchmaker, an officer - a lieutenant of the American fleet. Goro arranged the lieutenant's wedding and now shows him the house, which is leased for 999 years (naturally, with a clause convenient for Pinkerton that it is possible to refuse this clause of the contract). The wedding contract, by the way, contains a similar clause stating that the contract is temporary.

A guest arrives - the US Consul in Nagasaki, Mr. Sharpless, he tries to convince Pinkerton that there is a danger in such an arrangement of affairs: he knows his future wife, her name is Cio-Cio-san, or Madame Butterfly, and he worries that as a result her tender heart will be broken. But Pinkerton is not going to take all this seriously and even proposes a toast to the day when he really gets married - in the United States.

It's time for the present marriage ceremony. Pinkerton and Sharpless walk to the back of the stage and look down the path that leads up the mountain, from where gentle, cheerful voices are heard. Butterfly's voice is heard, hovering over the dense harmonic sound of the voices of her friends (geishas) accompanying her. And now they all appear on the stage. She tells Pinkerton about herself and her family, that she has only her mother and that she is unhappy: "Her poverty is so terrible." She reports her age (she is only fifteen years old), shows him all sorts of trinkets - figurines that she wears in a wide sleeve of a kimono ("These are the souls of the ancestors," explains Butterfly), including the dagger with which her father committed suicide on order of the Mikado. Butterfly, with all the fervor of a young heart, admits to Pinkerton that she decided to accept his faith: "I will be your god's slave, becoming your wife." She throws herself into the arms of Pinkerton. Meanwhile, Goro pushed the frames apart, turning the small rooms into one large hall. Here everything is ready for the marriage ceremony. Sharpless and officials are present. Butterfly enters the room and kneels. Pinkerton stands beside her. Butterfly's relatives remained in the garden, they are all on their knees. The Imperial Commissar performs short rite ceremonies, and everyone sings a toast to the happy couple. Suddenly, the fun is interrupted by the appearance of a formidable figure. This is a bonza, Uncle Butterfly, a Japanese priest; he learned that the missionary had Butterfly and intended to abandon her traditional religion in favor of Christianity. Now he has come to take her away from here. All relatives are on the side of the bonza. Bonza curses Butterfly. Her mother tries to protect her, but the boss rudely pushes her away and approaches Butterfly with a menacing look, shouting her curse in her face. Pinkerton intervenes in the course of events, ordering everyone to be silent. Uncle bonza stops amazed, then suddenly, having made a decision, demands that relatives and friends leave this house. Pinkerton also orders everyone to leave. In confusion, the guests leave the newlyweds. Mother tries to approach Butterfly again, but other relatives drag her along. The action ends with a long wonderful love duet - Butterfly forgets about his worries. Night. Clear starry sky. Pinkerton is sitting on a bench in the garden. Butterfly approaches him. They declare their love to each other. Together they - the Lieutenant and Butterfly (now Madame Pinkerton) - enter their new home.

ACT II

Three years have passed since Pinkerton left, but there was not a single word from him. Suzuki, who prays for Butterfly to her Japanese gods, tries to convince her owner that he will never return. At first, Madame Butterfly is angry, but then sings her famous ecstatic aria "Un bel di vedremo" ("Desired on a clear day"), in which she describes in detail how one day he will sail into the bay, climb the hill and meet his beloved again wife.

Soon a guest appears - Sharpless, the American consul. "Madame Butterfly..." he addresses her. "Madam Pinkerton," she corrects him. He has a letter that he wants to read to her, but Butterfly is so hospitably excited that he can't do it. They are interrupted by the wedding broker, Goro, who has come along with the consul, but has been wandering around the garden all this time. He brought with him Prince Yamadori, who wants to marry Butterfly. The lady politely but firmly refuses the prince. Meanwhile, Sharpless again makes an attempt to read the letter. After all, it says that Pinkerton married an American, but the consul is unable to utter these tragic words - he reads only part of the letter aloud (in a duet). For a moment, she thinks the best answer would be to kill herself. Sharpless gently advises her to accept the prince's offer. It's impossible, she insists, and gives explanations for it. This is her son, and his name is Suffering (Dolore). But that, she adds, is just for now. When the father returns, the baby will be called Happiness (Gioia). Completely crushed, Charles leaves.

A cannon shot is heard in the harbor. It's an American ship coming - Pinkerton's Abraham Lincoln! With joy, Butterfly and Suzuki decorate the house and sing a wonderful duet at the same time (“flower” duet “Let the flowers with their petals ...”). Now they are waiting for the arrival of the owner. Butterfly, Suzuki, and little Suffering peer into the bay at night, waiting for the ship to arrive. Butterfly makes three holes in paper frames: one for himself, another, lower, for Suzuki, the third, even lower, for the child, whom he puts on a pillow, making him a sign to look through the hole made. A beautiful melody sounds (it was already used in a duet with a letter) - it is performed by the orchestra and the choir sings without words behind the stage, drawing the silence of the night. Thus ends the second act.

ACT III

The beginning of the third act finds Suzuki, Butterfly, and Baby Suffering in the same place where they were at the end of the second. Only now the baby and the maid, tired, fell asleep; Butterfly still stands motionless and peers into the harbor. Morning. There is noise coming from the port. Butterfly carries her sleeping baby to another room; she sings him a lullaby. Consul Sharpless enters the garden, accompanied by Lieutenant Pinkerton and Kat Pinkerton, his American wife. Suzuki immediately understands who she is. She does not dare to tell her mistress about it. So does Pinkerton. He sings, and his farewell to his once happy home sounds extraordinarily passionate. He's leaving. At this moment, Cio-Cio-san appears, she sees Kat and understands what tragedy awaits her. With dignity, she tells Kat that she can take her son if Pinkerton comes for him - "The Father's will is sacred."

Left alone with the baby, she knows the only thing she needs to do. She places her son on the mat with her face to the left, gives him an American flag and a doll, inviting him to play with it, at the same time carefully blindfolds him. Then she goes behind the screen and there she plunges into herself the dagger of her father, which she always carried with her (she showed it in the first act). And at the moment when she hugs her son for the last time, Pinkerton runs into the room with a cry of despair: “Butterfly, Butterfly!” But of course he was too late. He kneels beside her body. An Asian melody rumbles in the orchestra, symbolizing a fatal outcome; it sounded whenever death was mentioned.

Henry W. Simon (translated by A. Maykapar)

In a two-act version, the opera, conducted by Cleophonte Campanini at its premiere at La Scala, failed. With the change of some details, especially in the first act, and with the division of two acts into three parts (that is, practically into three acts), the opera was a triumphant success at the Grande Theater in Brescia after about three months. In 1907 the Ricordi publishing house published the final version. Consciously exotic, like the future Turandot, the tragedy of a naive Japanese woman is marked by cunning, sadism, predatory cruelty under the guise of civilization, in which it is not easy to recognize barbarism disguised as culture. The Western man turns out to be a barbarian, and a fragile woman embodies the true civilization, outwardly seeming, on the contrary, the personification of a primitive culture full of superstitions and excessive aestheticism. She feels the need to retreat from this culture in order to find refuge in the arms of her savior, who came from a world of progress and realism. This conviction of the heroine, which rests on deceit, leads to the closest connection of Western music late XIX century (popular and scholarly, from the US anthem to Wagner's Tristan, to Massenet and reminiscences from La bohème and Tosca) with echoes of Japanese music, distinguished by pentatonic scales.

Immediately at the beginning of the nervous fugato of entering into imitation XVIII century turns into the image of the conversation of the guests by means of Japanese music, and we begin to distinguish the colors of the typical instrumentation, ringing and airy. In addition, the use of a modality that goes back to Mussorgsky's Boris and, in general, to the discoveries of The Mighty Handful, seems to build a bridge between these two musical hemispheres. In general, the contradiction between the two types of mentality tends to be resolved, especially in the image of the main character (this time the real heroine), who burned her wings in an absurd attempt to prevent the conflict of two worlds. The plot of the opera is not new (see Delibes' Lakme), but Puccini takes it to extreme limits, so that it becomes a symbol, although by no means incorporeal: we are confronted with the consequences of the loss and desecration of virginity.

Butterfly really appears in the first act, like a creature brought on the wings of sounds, untouched, barely born and already desired. The "indifferent" conversation between the two Americans, meanwhile, had sacrificed it even earlier, especially, of course, Pinkerton's cynicism; Sharpless, as we know, does not reach this point and tries, on the contrary, to save the dignity of the Yankee adventurer. The crowd of relatives and acquaintances of Butterfly, invited to the marriage ceremony, enliven the full-motion scene, which Puccini directs with a confident hand: this is an amazing example of a collective performance with a sweet, pedantic rendering of exotic features. The duet of the newlyweds, on the contrary, is the most European and cloying, although it follows very masterful, well-oiled schemes, very well orchestrated, marked by various magnificent ideas, full of rustling leaves and aromas, but at the same time so prolonged that it involuntarily creates an impression that then completely confirmed - Pinkerton's insincerity.

The second act belongs entirely to Cio-Cio-san: endless way of the cross(depicted in changed, more subdued orchestral colors) the heroine passes in tense expectation, clenching her teeth, with a smile on her face, experiencing anxiety, languishing, breath-taking doubts, violent delight (as in the well-known aria “Wishful on a clear day”), expressing childishly - simple-hearted and indestructible, up to self-denial, hope. A lullaby that guards the sleep of the child and the vigil of the mother, choral singing with a closed mouth, creates a gentle, miraculous image women. With the same meekness and gullibility, Butterfly became a mother. When it turns out that this credulity is trampled and betrayed, the insult to maternal feelings, the deprivation of her son shakes the mind of the viewer.

The excitement erupts in a single gesture, like a cinematic shot, as in the scene of Manon's death. There is something uterine in it: the notorious short breath of Puccini here conveys uterine screams, which, despite all the dignity and chastity of the heroine, cannot hide behind a screen, like she herself at the moment of suicide. We are talking about the butterfly gesture, when she squeezes her son seven times in her arms, as if calling him seven times with all her heart. After the first section of the last arioso, painful, sharp, recitative, reflecting a close connection with the ancestral ritual, the young woman rushes to the melody of the western warehouse, as if stretching out her arms to protect her child, leaving to the west, where the sun sets. When, on the last syllables of the word “abbandono” (“I leave”), the melody passes into the tonic of B minor and from here begins its terrible flight to the dominant, accompanied by heavy gong strikes in a very simple, archaic and impressive arpeggio scheme - the melody, squeezed by the limits of tonality, results in a stream of great power crashing against this terrible "gioca, gioca" ("play, play"), followed by a gloomy trumpet. The orchestra meets the appearance of the father with a whole-tone motif of pipes and trombones - the theme of the house on the hill, if I may say so, goes back to the aria “Wishful on a clear day”; Pinkerton shows up too late. Immediately, the farewell theme sounds, again whole-tone, triumphant, sorrowful, truly bloody, illuminating the suicide with the harsh light of martyrdom. The last chord is actually a contemptuous slap in the face of a vile civilization.

G. Marchesi (translated by E. Greceanii)

History of creation

The opera Cio-Cio-san (Madama Butterfly) is based on a short story by the American writer John L. Long, revised by D. Belasco into a drama. Having seen the play during his stay in London, Puccini was moved by its lifelike veracity. At his suggestion, librettists L. Illik (1859-1919) and D. Giacosa (1847-1906) wrote an opera libretto based on the drama. Music was soon created. At the first performance, which took place on February 17, 1904 in Milan, the opera, however, failed and was withdrawn from the repertoire. The audience did not understand its content and was outraged by the excessive length of the second act. Puccini shortened some numbers, divided the second act into two independent acts. Performed with these minor changes three months later, the opera was a triumphant success and quickly gained a solid reputation as one of the most popular contemporary operas.

The appeal to the plot from the life of distant Japan corresponded to the gravitation towards the exotic, common in European art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the desire of artists to enrich their palette with new colors. But Puccini did not set himself the special task of reproducing the national Japanese flavor in music. The main thing for him was the image of a touching human drama. In its embodiment, the composer managed not only to preserve, but also to deepen the content of the literary source.

Authors)
libretto

Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa

Plot Source

Drama David Belasco "Geisha"

Genre Number of actions

2 (later - 3)

Year of creation First production Place of first performance

"Madama Butterfly" (ital. Madama Butterfly)- opera by Giacomo Puccini in two acts and three parts to the libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on the drama "Geisha" by David Belasco. First production: Milan, La Scala, February 17, 1904; V new edition: Brescia, Teatro Grande, May 28, 1904.

Characters

The consignment	Voice	Performer at the premiere February 17, 1904 (Conductor: Cleophonte Campanini)
Madame Butterfly (Cio-Cio-san)	soprano	Rosina Storchio
suzuki, maid	mezzo-soprano	Giuseppina Giaconia
Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, US Navy Lieutenant	tenor	Giovanni Zenatello
sharpless, American consul	baritone	Giuseppe De Luca
Goro	tenor	Gaetano Pini Corsi
Prince Yamadori	tenor / baritone	Emilio Venturini
bonze, uncle Cio-Cio-san	bass	Paolo Woolman
Yakushide, uncle Cio-Cio-san	bass	Antonio Volpini
commissioner	bass	Viale
registry officer	bass	Gennari
Cio-Cio-san's mother	mezzo-soprano	Tina Alasia
aunt	soprano	Gissoni
cousin	soprano	Palmyra Maggi
Kat Pinkerton	mezzo-soprano	Manfredi
Dolore, boy	without singing
Relatives, friends, girlfriends, servants of Cio-Cio-san

Act one

Japanese house on one of the hills near Nagasaki. Goro shows it to the American Navy lieutenant Pinkerton, who is going to live here with the young geisha Cio-Cio-san: their marriage according to the Japanese ritual should take place soon. The American consul Sharples appears, to whom Pinkerton sets out his frivolous views on life, in particular, on marriage with a Japanese woman, leaving him the opportunity to eventually marry an American. But far away the voices of Cio-Cio-san and her friends are heard. Cio-Cio-san, nicknamed Butterfly, tells about her life: her father was a noble samurai, but poverty forced the girl to become a geisha. She is ready to renounce her religion if Pinkerton wants it. When the wedding ceremony is over, a fun feast begins, which is interrupted by the arrival of Butterfly's angry uncle, the bonza. He learned about the intentions of his niece to convert to Christianity and curses her along with other relatives. Pinkerton drives everyone away and takes his wife into the house.

Action two

Part one

Three years have passed. Butterfly waits in his house for Pinkerton's return and convinces Suzuki's maid that he will be back soon. Enter Sharpless and Goro: the consul is holding a letter in which Pinkerton asks him to inform Butterfly that he has married an American. Sharpless hesitates to tell the young woman about it. He advises her to agree to accept Prince Yamadori's offer. Butterfly shows them his little son: he is waiting for his father. A cannon shot is heard announcing that an American ship has arrived at the port. Butterfly is overwhelmed with joy, she decorates the house with flowers and waits for Pinkerton. The night is coming. Suzuki falls asleep next to the child, Butterfly stays awake!

Part two

It's getting light. Butterfly, tired of a sleepless night, lay down to rest. At this moment, Pinkerton, his wife Kate and the consul enter the house: the lieutenant hopes that his ex-lover give him the child. After learning from Suzuki how she has been waiting for him, he cannot contain his excitement. Butterfly in the face of Kate and from the words of the consul guesses everything. She will give her son only to his father in half an hour. When everyone leaves, she curtains the room and prepares for death. Suzuki pushes the boy into the room, hoping to turn his mother away from her terrible intention. A young woman tenderly bids him farewell, gives him toys and blindfolds, and stabs herself with a dagger behind a screen. She still has enough strength to return to the child and hug him for the last time. Pinkerton's voice calls her, the lieutenant and the consul enter the room. Cio-Cio-san, dying, with a weak gesture shows them to his son.

Productions

In a two-act version, the opera, conducted by Cleophonte Campanini during its premiere at La Scala, failed.

With the change of some details, especially in the first act, and with the division of two acts into three parts (that is, practically into three acts), the opera was a triumphant success at the Grande Theater in Brescia after about three months. On May 29, on the stage of the Grande Theater in Brescia, the premiere of the new edition of Madama Butterfly took place, in leading role Salome Krushelnitskaya performed. This time the reception was completely different. The applauding audience called the actors and the composer to the stage seven times. After the performance, Puccini sent Krushelnitskaya his portrait with the inscription: "To the most beautiful and charming Butterfly."

In 1907 the Ricordi publishing house published the final version.

Productions in Russia

Music

Opera(in the Russian version - "Cio-Cio-san") is a lyrical drama that fully and multifacetedly reveals the image of the main character. The alternation of melodious cantilena arias and expressive recitatives combined into wide scenes, which is generally characteristic of Puccini's operatic style, is especially characteristic of Cio-Cio-san. The music of the opera uses several authentic Japanese melodies, organically woven into the musical fabric.

First act opens with an energetic introduction. Aria of Pinkerton "Yankee Drifter" ("Dovunque al mondo lo yankee vagabondo"), framed by the melody of the American anthem, is marked by courageous, strong-willed features. Lyric melody of Pinkerton's arioso "Caprice il passion" ("Amore o grillo") sounds hot and exciting. The rapture of love is permeated with the arioso of Cio-Cio-san "It's calling me here for a reason". A large ensemble with a choir conveys the contrasting feelings of the participants: Sharpless's fears and the recognition of Pinkerton in love, the admiration or disappointment of the others. Humility and humility are heard in Cio-Cio-san's arioso “Is it easy for someone who was rich to remain poor?” ("Nessuno si confessa mai nato in poverta"), "Yes, before your fate".

Nervous fugato, in imitation of the 18th century, turns into the depiction of the conversation of guests by means of Japanese music, and we begin to distinguish the colors of typical instrumentation, ringing and airy. The crowd of relatives and acquaintances of Butterfly, invited to the marriage ceremony, enliven the full-motion scene, which Puccini directs with a confident hand: this is an amazing example of a collective performance with a sweet, pedantic rendering of exotic features. In general, the contradiction between the two types of mentality tends to be resolved, especially in the image of the main character.

With the advent of the bonza, the music takes on a shade of ominous menace. The duet of Pinkerton and Cio-Cio-san breathes languid bliss “Oh, what an evening!”, “I still admire your eyes” (“Viene la sera ...”, “Bimba dagli occhi pieni d’amore”). The newlywed duet sounds very European, follows masterful, well-oiled schemes, very well orchestrated, marked by various great ideas, full of rustling leaves and scents, but at the same time so drawn out that it involuntarily creates an impression that is then fully confirmed - Pinkerton's insincerity.

Start the first scene of the second act filled with worry and worry. Sadly agitated mournful music accompanies the dialogue between Butterfly and Suzuki. The aria Butterfly is filled with a passionate dream of happiness "Wishful on a clear day" ("Un bel di, vedremo"). Sad letter to son "What will I have to take you in my arms" is replaced by a sincere arioso "Let the flowers with their petals" ("Scuoti la fronda"). A lullaby protecting the child's sleep and the mother's vigil, choral singing with a closed mouth, creates a gentle, miraculous image of a woman, conveys the silence of the night.

Orchestral introduction to the second picture of the second act its drama anticipates the fatal denouement. The light and calm orchestral episode that follows him depicts the sunrise. The music of the tercet captures Sharpless's perseverance, Suzuki's fright and despair, and Pinkerton's remorse. Sadness performed by Pinkerton's arioso "Farewell, my peaceful haven" ("Addio, fiorito asil"). The scene that follows is saturated with a sense of alertness and anxious expectation. After the first section of the last arioso Butterfly "And I, I'm going far", imbued with calm determination, reflecting a close connection with the ritual of the ancestors, the young woman rushes to the melody of the western warehouse, as if stretching out her arms to protect her child. When on the last syllables of a word "abbandono" ("leaving") the melody passes into the tonic of B minor and from here begins its terrible flight to the dominant, accompanied by heavy gong strikes in a very simple, archaic and impressive arpeggio scheme - the melody, squeezed by the limits of the tonality, pours out into a stream of enormous force that breaks against this terrible "gioca, gioca" ("play, play")