Madama Butterfly
An opera by Giacomo Puccini about Cio-Cio-San, a Japanese woman who marries American naval officer B. F. Pinkerton and is later abandoned.
Un bel dì, vedremo: Cio-Cio-San’s aria imagining Pinkerton’s return, from Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly. Her hopeful vision makes the audience hear the gulf between her faith and Pinkerton’s intentions.
John Luther Long: An American writer whose 1898 short story “Madame Butterfly” helped inspire Puccini’s opera. Long’s story supplied the opera’s central characters and tragic premise.
Cio-Cio-San: The Japanese heroine of Madama Butterfly, known as Butterfly, who awaits the return of her American husband. Her hopes, choices, and final decision form the opera’s central dramatic arc.
Madame Chrysanthème: Pierre Loti’s 1887 novel about a French naval officer’s temporary marriage to a Japanese woman in Nagasaki. Its autobiographical, comic treatment of a temporary union differs sharply from Puccini’s tragic focus.
Humming Chorus: A wordless chorus sung offstage during the vigil in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Its long, suspended sound makes Cio-Cio-San’s wait for Pinkerton palpable.
Madame Butterfly (play): David Belasco’s 1900 stage adaptation of John Luther Long’s story about a Japanese woman abandoned by an American husband. Puccini encountered Belasco’s play in London and drew on its dramatic staging.
B. F. Pinkerton: The American naval officer who marries Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly and later returns to Japan with his American wife. His temporary view of the marriage conflicts with Cio-Cio-San’s understanding of it.
M. Butterfly: David Henry Hwang’s 1988 play about a French diplomat’s relationship with a Chinese opera singer, inspired partly by Madama Butterfly. Hwang reverses the opera’s familiar gender and cultural assumptions to interrogate its fantasies.
Leitmotif: A recurring musical idea associated with a character, place, object, or dramatic idea. Puccini uses recurring musical ideas to connect characters and dramatic meanings across the opera.
David Belasco: An American playwright and theatrical producer known for realistic stage effects. His adaptation gave Puccini a theatrical model, especially for the vigil scene.