Madama Butterfly

Giacomo Puccini was entranced by David Belasco’s play Madame Butterfly when he saw it in London in 1900. He harnessed the talents of librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa to adapt Cio-Cio-San’s tragic tale for the operatic stage. Madama Butterfly quickly became a hugely popular opera with performers and audiences alike, and remains one of Puccini’s most performed works. Puccini drew on Japanese folk melodies for the score, one of his most evocative and atmospheric. The romantic exoticism of 19th-century European images of Japan – an integral part of Madama Butterfly’s character – inspire Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s elegant production for The Royal Opera.