Log In


Reset Password
Performing Arts

Opera as human drama and cultural imperialism

FLC to screen MET production of Puccini’s ‘Madame Butterfly’
Ana María Martínez as Cio-Cio-San with her child in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.”

At the beginning of “Madama Butterfly,” Lt. B.F. Pinkerton clinches an unbelievable Real Estate deal. The cocky American naval officer has leased a honeymoon cottage with a spectacular view over Nagasaki Harbor – for 999 years. In case things don’t work out with his 15-year old bride, Pinkerton finagles a monthly cancellation clause. It’s good for both the property and the marriage.

Sealing the deal, Pinkerton proposes a toast to Sharpless, the American Consul in Japan. Looks like win-win for me, he sings.

Is it any wonder people hate smug Americans?

In 1907, Puccini’s tragic opera capitalized on the still fresh tumult over the opening of Japan half a century earlier. “Butterfly” dramatized East-West conflicts in a vivid, personal way bringing together the callous Pinkerton and the faithful Butterfly, Cio Cio San.

The opera’s staying power can easily be attributed to the intense human drama and Puccini’s stirring music. But “Butterfly” also sparks contemporary controversies about cultural and sexual imperialism. With America’s reputation abroad being sorely tested by our political campaign, “Butterfly” may stir up some uncomfortable feelings.

In 1904, Puccini was inspired by an American play he saw in London. Although Puccini spoke no English, he apparently was so moved by “Madame Butterfly,” a tragedy by David Belasco, he immediately contacted his two favorite librettists about an opera. In turn, they involved the original story writer, John Luther Long.

Now all but lost in history, Long was an American lawyer who a year prior published a short story about a beautiful Japanese girl who “married” a Western naval officer on temporary leave in Nagasaki. Mr. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, as he insists his new wife address him, is a spoiled, immature, entitled American. He forces his bride to reject her family, abandon her religion for his, and speak only English. He also makes fun of everything she does: “He joking all times,” she tells Sharpless later in the story and opera after Pinkerton has abandoned her.

You can read Long’s story on the Internet as it is copyright free. It’s worth the time.

Beginning with the opening Real Estate deal and the sham marriage contract, the opera follows Long’s story quite closely. Butterfly’s dogged devotion is a given, and it resists reality checks by a marriage broker eager to introduce other Japanese suitors, the skeptical but thoughtful Sharpless, and even her maid Suzuki.

The opera and original story have somewhat different endings, although in both, Butterfly stoically acknowledges her fate. The opera ends conclusively with Pinkerton arriving back in Nagasaki with his American wife to claim the child. The original story is more ambiguous, with a scene in which Mrs. Pinkerton unexpectedly meets Cio Cio San in Sharpless’s office and dismisses her as a little insignificant plaything.

In the original story, the Pinkertons deserve each other. It’s not always that clear in operatic performances. I’ve seen attempts to sanitize the Americans by trotting out a little guilt and compassion.

The Met production is a revival of the late Anthony Minghella’s spectacularly beautiful interpretation from 2006. It opens with a pantomime into which the overture breaks with its dark musical foreboding. The wedding, the love scene, the departure, and the painful waiting that Cio Cio San endures, are all exquisitely wrought.

If you’ve never seen an opera before, this is the one to see. If you’ve seen “Butterfly” many times, this is the one to see.

If you go

The MET: Live in HD presents Giacomo Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” at 10:55 a.m. Saturday, April 2, in the Vallecito Room of the Fort Lewis College Student Union. Based on story by John Luther Long and a play by David Belasco, featuring Kristine Opolais, Maria Zifchak, Roberto Alagna, and Dwayne Croft, in the Anthony Minghella production, conducted by Karel Mark Chichon. Tickets: $23 general, $21 seniors, students and MET members, available online at www.durangoconcerts.com, by phone at 247-7657 or at the Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue, or at the door. Sung in Italian with English subtitles. Running time 3 hours 40 minutes.



Reader Comments