(Credit: Ken Howard) The Metropolitan Opera has announced a cast change for its production of “Madama Butterfly.” The company said that Aleksandra Kurzak will sing the title role replacing Eleonora Buratto for performances on Feb. 27, March 2, 6, 9, and 14 2024. Kurzak performed the first six performances of the run in January. She scored rave reviews with critics {…}
New National Theatre Tokyo has announced its 2024-25 season. The season opens with Bellini’s “La Sonnambula.” The cast includes Hidekazu Tsumaya, Mutsumi Taniguchi, Rosa Feola, Antonio Siragusa, Hare Ito, and Kei Kondo. Maurizio Benini conducts a production directed by Bárbara Lluch. Performance Dates: Oct. 3-14, 2024 Gezim Myshketa, René Barbera, Yoko Yasui, Hidekazu Tsumaya, Olga Peretyatko, and Junko Saito star in {…}
Opera Naples is set to present Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” The production by Maria Todaro will star internationally acclaimed soprano Jennifer Rowley in her signature role. She will be joined by mezzo-soprano Julia Maria Johnson, tenor Martín Nusspaumer and baritone Raymond Diaz. Ramón Tebar will conduct the Naples Festival Orchestra. “Madama Butterfly” will be performed on March 8 and 10, 2024 {…}
The Metropolitan Opera is set to present Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” for 16 performances. The Anthony Minghella production, which is set to be performed between Jan. 11 and May 11, 2024, will showcase two casts. The first cast will see the New Jersey Symphony Music Director Xian Zhang make her Met debut, leading a cast starring soprano Aleksandra Kurzak as Cio-Cio-San {…}
(Photo credit: Ken Yotsukura) Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) has decided the need to move Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” away from racism in order to save Puccini from himself. In doing so, BLO’s main production asset is its vocal cast composed mostly of people of Asian descent—an asset that BLO has been very eager to publicize. However, this narrows interpretations of what {…}
(Credit: Markus Gårder ) This review is for the performance on August 28, 2023. “Madama Butterfly” is one of opera’s most renowned and controversial stories. On one hand you have the tale of a young woman waiting endlessly for the man she loves, only to discover that she’s been lied to for the past three years, a fact that the {…}
The Teatro Grande di Brescia is set to present Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” The performances will feature the first time Riccardo Frizza conducts the opera in a return to his hometown. He will lead a cast that includes Vittoria Yeo, Sergio Escobar, Asude Karayavuz, and Devid Cecconi. Greek director Rodula Gaitanou will helm the production which is set to be performed on {…}
The Boston Lyric Opera is set to open its 2023-24 season with a new “Madama Butterfly.” The production will open at the Emerson Colonial Theatre from Sept. 14 to 24 after a years-long, groundbreaking cultural journey designed to examine the opera’s complex production history. The opera will also be presented by Asian and Asian-American artists seeking to reclaim a nearly {…}
The Palacio de Bellas Artes has announced its upcoming presentation of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” The renowned Mexican theater will feature the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro de Bellas Artes, led by conductor Iván López Reynoso. Juliana Faesler will direct the production, marking her return to the iconic theater after more than a decade. The Mexican cast includes soprano Maribel {…}
San Francisco Opera is set to present Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” opening on June 3, 2023. The opera, which will be conducted by Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim, will lead the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and production by visionary Japanese director Amon Miyamoto. In a statement director Amon Miyamoto said, “’Madame Butterfly’ highlights the clash of cultural and {…}
Kazuki Yamada/courtesy of CBSO The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has unveiled its 2023-24 season, and it’s full to the brim with opportunities to hear some of the world’s finest music and musicians. With over 12 months of programming, the Orchestra has something for everyone. The Orchestra will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the City of Birmingham Symphony {…}