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 July 20 and 22, 2023.

In a statement, Frizza noted, “Brescia’s Teatro Grande sees Madama Butterfly as one of its totems, and it was out of the question not to stage it for the year of Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture, in its so-called ‘Brescia version’, of course. The reasons for this are well-known to all Puccini enthusiasts: in May 1904, three months after the resounding fiasco of its Milanese premiere, the new version of the opera was a great success in Brescia, launching the eternal fortune of this masterpiece. It was about time I conducted my first ‘Butterfly,’ after hesitating and turning it down on more than one occasion, such is the immense respect and love that I had and have for this score. This time there were no doubts about saying yes to the Teatro Grande and to my city, and here I am, conducting this new production, the fruit of an international co-production.”