Organization

Singer

Soprano

Sabina Cvilak Damjanovic

Cio-Cio-San

Mezzo-soprano

Irena Petkova

Suzuki

Baritone

Jaki Jurgec

Sharpless

Tenor

Dušan Topolovec

Goro

Set designer

Nicolás Boni

Costume designer

Luca Dall'Alpi

Martin Sušnik

B.F. Pinkerton

Bogdan Stopar

Prince Yamadori

Bass

Alfonz Kodrič

Uncle Bonze

Jernej Luketič

Uncle Yakusidé

Sebastijan Čelofiga

The imperial commissioner

Bojan Hinteregger

The official registrar

Dada Kladenik

Cio-Cio San's mother

Lucija Krašovec

The cousin

Silent

Luka Aleksandar Jovicic

Sorrow

Rene Vujinić Cvilak

Rebeka Lokar

Renzo Zulian

Tomaž Planinc

Klavdija Kuzkin

Kate Pinkerton

Conductor

Stefano Romani

Stage director

Pier Francesco Maestrini

Opera and Ballet of Slovene National Theatre Maribor

Others

Opera Choir of the Slovene National Theater Maribor

Orchestra

Maribor Slovenian State Opera Orchestra

Italian

Madama Butterfly -  (Madame Butterfly)

Maribor

Slovenia

Slovene National Theatre

Madama Butterfly Puccini

Public

Madame Butterfly

Approved

Even before Tosca had its premiere at the Roman Opera in January 1900, Puccini was already intensively searching for a new theme or template for his next opera. Maeterlinck's drama Pelléas et Mélisande, Hugo's epochal novel Les Misérables and Daudet's novel Tartarin de Tarascon were among the shortlist of suitable works. But it was only after a summer visit to the London production of Tosca that he found his true inspiration in the tragic one-act play Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan by David Belasco, which was created as a dramatization of the short story Madame Butterfly by John Luther Long and was currently being performed at London's Duke of York's Theatre. Puccini was enthusiastic about the performance, so he immediately engaged his librettists, Illico and Giacosa, to begin preparing the text. As usual, Illica's task was to

The first version of the opera Madama Butterfly, conceived in only two acts, was performed for the first time in Milan's Scala on February 17, 1904, and was poorly received by the audience, despite the fact that they were in the roles of two main protagonists - a couple in love – Choča san and Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton engaged renowned soprano Rosina Storchio and tenor Giovanni Zenatello. The main reason for the fiasco of the opera premiere was not some compositional deficiency, but above all the lack of time to properly prepare the demanding musical score, which Puccini submitted after the scheduled deadline, because of his thorough acquaintance with Japanese culture - it is known that when composing often consulted with a Japanese actress who was staying in Milan at the time - took too much time.

Puccini, however, did not give up on the opera after the failed first performance and merely broke it down somewhat dramaturgically - in fact, he "broke" the original second act into two parts - and also made some minor harmonic and melodic corrections in individual arias and instrumental transitions. This was followed by the great success of the first performance of the new version of the opera on May 28 of the same year (1904) in Brescia. Madama Butterfly, which after a hiatus of more than ten years (it was last staged in the 2008/2009 season) will come to life again on the big Maribor stage, is one of those rare examples

English

Še preden je svojo praizvedbo v rimski Operi doživela Tosca januarja 1900, je Puccini že intenzivno iskal novo temo oziroma predlogo za svojo naslednjo opero. Med ožjim izborom primernih del so bile tudi Maeterlinckova drama Pelléas et Mélisande, Hugojev epohalni roman Les Misérables in Daudetov roman Tartarin de Tarascon. Toda šele po poletnem obisku londonske produkcije Tosce je našel svoj pravi navdih v tragični enodejanki Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan Davida Belasca, ki je nastala kot dramatizacija kratke zgodbe Madame Butterfly Johna Lutherja Longa in je bila ravno tedaj na programu v londonskem gledališču Duke of York’s Theatre. Puccini je bil na predstavo navdušen, zato je takoj angažiral svoja libretista, Illico in Giacoso, da bi začela s pripravo besedila. Kot po navadi je bila naloga Illice, da pripravi ustrezno dramsko strukturo in osnutek dialogov, ki bi jih nato Giacosa prepesnil v verze.

Prva različica opere Madama Butterfly, ki je bila zasnovana v zgolj dveh dejanjih, je bila prvič izvedena v milanski Scali 17. februarja 1904 in je doživela slab sprejem pri publiki, in to kljub dejstvu, da sta bila v vlogah glavnih dveh protagonistov – ljubezenskega para – Čočo san in Benjamina Franklina Pinkertona angažirana priznana sopranistka Rosina Storchio in tenorist Giovanni Zenatello. Glavni razlog za fiasko operne praizvedbe pa ni bila kakšna kompozicijska pomanjkljivost, ampak predvsem pomanjkanje časa za ustrezno pripravo zahtevne glasbene partiture, ki jo je Puccini oddal po predvidenem roku, saj je njegovo temeljito spoznavanje z japonsko kulturo – znano je, da se je pri komponiranju pogosto posvetoval z neko japonsko igralko, ki je takrat bivala v Milanu – terjalo preveč časa.

Puccini pa po propadli praizvedbi ni obupal nad opero in jo je zgolj nekoliko dramaturško razčlenil – pravzaprav je izvorno drugo dejanje “razbil” na dva dela –, prav tako pa je naredil še nekaj minornih harmonsko-melodičnih popravkov v posameznih arijah in inštrumentalnih prehodih. Sledil je velik uspeh prve izvedbe nove različice opere 28. maja še istega leta (1904) v Brescii. Madama Butterfly, ki bo po več kot desetletnem premoru (nazadnje je bila uprizorjena v sezoni 2008/2009) ponovno zaživela na velikem mariborskem odru, je ena tistih redkih primerov, ko se operni libreto in ne nazadnje tudi čustveno nabita glasba z emfatičnim vrhuncem v ljubezenskem duetu Vogliatemi bene med pravkar poročeno japonsko gejšo Čočo san z ameriškim mornariškim častnikom Pinkertonom kaže kot pomenljiva umetniška nadgradnja lastnega izvirnika – Longove kratke zgodbe in Belascove dramatizacije –, kar potrjuje tudi trajna priljubljenost te opere na preštevilnih opernih odrih po vsem svetu.

slovenščina

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble