Madame Butterfly by Puccini, From (2024/2025), Directed by Patrick Seibert, Conductor Fabrice Bollon, Oper Halle (Saale), Halle (Saale), Germany

Nagasaki, Japan: The American lieutenant Pinkerton marries the geisha Cio-Cio-San, known as Butterfly. It could be a dream come true for the girl, whose family was once respected but was forced into social decline by an alleged misstep by her father. But the wedding is fake, the young woman was bought for a limited time and the love is just an illusion - but not for Butterfly. She breaks with her family, with her religion and cuts off all ties to her origins. Isolated, Butterfly waits three long years for her lover to return. But the lover has long since left the relationship behind as an exotic adventure and has since remarried in the USA. When he finally wants to bring his child "home" with his wife, Cio-Cio-San sees only one way out. In his opera, Puccini takes up the Japan euphoria of the 19th century and refers to one of its darkest chapters: At this time, the special kind of exploration of foreign cultures developed that we would now call "sex tourism". After Puccini's "La bohème", "Madama Butterfly" continues our series of works by the great Italian sound painter. The production is in the hands of Patric Seibert, who is presenting his third work at the Halle Opera, for the first time in collaboration with stage and costume designer Kaspar Glarner.