Madama Butterfly

Avoid the train to the West End, the time and the cost! Watch The Royal Ballet and Orchestra back catalogue of world-class opera productions in your village hall, our next screening is Sunday 19th January 2025, doors open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm screening.

Background

Puccini was entranced by David Belasco’s play Madame Butterfly (based on a popular short story by John Luther Long) when he saw it in London in 1900. He collaborated with librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa (with whom he had created La bohème and Tosca) to adapt Cio-Cio-San’s tragic tale for the operatic stage. Although the premiere at La Scala, Milan, in 1904 was poorly received, that same year Puccini revised and restaged the opera for performances in Brescia, to great acclaim. Madama Butterfly quickly became a hugely popular opera with performers and audiences alike, and remains one of Puccini’s best-loved works.

Cio-Cio-San, the young Japanese bride of American naval officer Lieutenant Pinkerton, finds her romantic idyll shattered when he deserts her shortly after their marriage. She lives in hope that one day he will return. 

Three years later, Cio-Cio-San and her son, Dolore, see Pinkerton’s ship in the harbour. She excitedly awaits his visit – but when Pinkerton and his American wife Kate arrive and learn about Dolore's existence, they ask to take the boy away, and raise him in America. Cio-Cio-San bids her son farewell and takes her own life.

Subtitles

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Your evening

When : Sunday 19th January 2025

Doors open : 7:00pm, opera starts 7:30pm

Running time : 2hrs 25mins

Interval : we will take an interval of approximately 15 minutes between the acts.

Refreshments : a selection of wines by the glass and bottle will be available for purchase, along with tea and coffee

Tickets

Just £6 - online, at Tysoe Post Office, or on the door