East Meets West at the Opera: Productions of ‘Madama Butterfly’

The opening scene of Pacific Opera Project's production of "Madama Butterfly." (Courtesy of Pacific Opera Project)

Opera is an incredibly broad genre of classical music, with countless individual works by thousands of composers across hundreds of years. As with any art form, certain works consistently stand out as the most popular. According to Operabase, Giacomo Puccini is the third-most-played opera composer, after Giuseppe Verdi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Three of the Italian composer’s operas are in the Top 10 Most Played Titles list. “Madama Butterfly” ranks at No. 8. This beloved work consistently places as among the most frequently performed opera worldwide.

In remembrance of the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s death, “Madama Butterfly” has been a popular production in the second half of the 2023–2024 season. New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Texas’s Houston Grand Opera, and the UK’s Royal Opera have all performed this classic this year.

In Southern California, 2024 also seems to be the year of the butterfly. Three local companies have already performed the opera, and Los Angeles Opera plans to open their 2024–2025 season with it. In February, Mission Opera performed it in Santa Clarita. In April, San Diego Opera (SDO) closed their 59th season with it. In June, the Pacific Opera Project (POP) closed their 13th season with their unique production in Los Angeles.

Suzuki (L) looks on with concern as Cio-Cio-San tremblingly listens to Sharpless read a letter from her husband Pinkerton, in Pacific Opera Project's production of "Madama Butterfly." (Courtesy of Pacific Opera Project)

I had the opportunity to see the SDO and POP productions of “Madama Butterfly.” It was a rare opportunity to see within driving distance two live productions of the same opera in less than two months. Both performances were unique and enjoyable in their own way, revealing different facets of this masterpiece.

The Opera

“Madama Butterfly,” an Italian opera, debuted in Milan in 1904. It was based on David Belasco’s one-act play, “Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan,” a classic tragedy based on a doomed East-meets-West romance. At its unsuccessful debut, the opera had only two acts. A few months later, Puccini revised it to three acts to great acclaim. He would continue to revise the work, and the fifth revision became the standard version.

American Naval officer Lt. B.F. Pinkerton (tenor) is using a mercenary marriage broker Goro (tenor) to buy the perfect arrangement for himself while stationed in Japan, including a house, three servants, and a beautiful young wife.

Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton sing of their love on their wedding night, in Project's production of "Madama Butterfly." (Courtesy of Pacific Opera Project)

The young man is very cavalier about the marriage, which he sees as a temporary arrangement, but his friend, American consul Sharpless (baritone), warns him that his young wife will doubtless take the union very seriously. Pinkerton’s bride is a beautiful 15-year-old geisha named Cio-Cio-San (soprano), Japanese for “butterfly.” Her large family crowds the house to celebrate the union until her uncle, The Bonze (bass), a priestly title, angrily enters and renounces her for going to the Christian missionary, encouraging everyone to denounce her. Once alone, the newlyweds proclaim their love for each other.

Act II opens after Pinkerton has been gone for three years. Money is running out, and Cio-Cio-San’s only companion is her faithful servant and friend Suzuki (mezzo-soprano). Now mother to an infant son named Sorrow, who was born after his father left, Butterfly refuses to believe that she has been abandoned.

Sharpless visits with a letter from Pinkerton, but he doesn’t have the heart to tell her that Pinkerton has no intention of returning to her. As soon as Sharpless leaves, Butterfly spots Pinkerton’s ship entering the port. She is ecstatic, but her joy turns to despair when she realizes that Pinkerton has come back with an American wife (mezzo-soprano), and they want to take the child. Believing she can no longer live with honor, Butterfly kills herself.

Cio-Cio-San prepares to take her own life with her father’s ceremonial dagger, in Pacific Opera Project's production of "Madama Butterfly." (Courtesy of Pacific Opera Project)

Traditionalism Versus Accessibility

In recent years, it has become a common practice for old operas to be modernized, put in an updated setting, or otherwise altered from the traditional versions. As a result, I do thorough research about a production before going to see it, since I don’t want to support a nontraditional show. I was very happy to hear from a friend of mine singing in the chorus of SDO’s “Madama Butterfly” that the production was very traditional.

I was delighted to observe this myself at the sold-out performance. The San Diego Symphony, under the baton of resident conductor Yves Abel, brought the music to life magnificently, filling the huge Civic Theatre. The singers, led by married couple Corinne Winters and Adam Smith, were excellent, vocally and emotionally. The costumes were very authentic, and the set of the Japanese house was beautiful.

The Pacific Opera Project’s goal is “to provide quality opera that is accessible, affordable, and entertaining in order to build a broader audience.” Since 2011, this company has gained acclaim for its creative productions of classic and obscure works, often performed in unusual venues.

Although POP shows are often modernized and given bizarre settings, this production of “Madama Butterfly” was inspired by cultural accuracy. Instead of the original Italian words, this production, which debuted in 2019, features a mixture of English and Japanese lyrics. While artistic director Josh Shaw’s English libretti often feature vernacular, the words he wrote for American characters were very period-accurate. To see Asian singers playing the Japanese characters and Caucasian singers playing the American characters was surprisingly refreshing and greatly added to the believability of the story. Despite the bilingual libretto, it was a very traditional production.

Music and Production

Although one of the most beloved operas, “Madama Butterfly” is also one of the most controversial because of its supposed Asian stereotypes. As arts companies struggle with hot topics such as racial appropriation, orientalism, and avoiding offensive stereotypes, fear of disturbing delicate sensibilities motivates many decisions. For instance, the SDO production utilized little to no specialized makeup techniques to make Caucasian cast members look Asian, lest it be considered demeaning “yellowface.” Thankfully, accurate costumes were still used to denote race, although I found the lighter colors of some of the geisha wigs to be confusing. This wasn’t a problem for the POP production, since the Japanese performers were unashamedly attired in traditional garb, complete with elaborate black hairdos and white makeup for the geishas.

From a strictly operatic perspective, SDO’s production was the better representation of this opera, since it was a very faithful presentation of Puccini’s composition. The company’s theater and budget accommodated the full orchestra, whereas POP’s reduced 23-piece orchestra, although of excellent musical caliber, didn’t sound as full at times. The Japanese language worked much better for singing than I expected; I actually found the English sections to be more distracting. Although the bilingual nature of the piece is a fascinating concept, the singing generally works better in Italian, as it was written, from a musical standpoint.

Visually, POP’s production captured a warmer, more intimate depiction of Japanese life. The opera features only one set throughout the three acts, so it must be meaningful. The traditional Japanese house in both productions was beautiful, but SDO’s background was a bit stark. The POP set felt more alive and historically accurate, with rich wood tones and lush flowers. The only part of the staging that wasn’t traditional was the ending. Butterfly stabbed herself in front of Pinkerton instead of his finding her lifeless or almost dead body, as is standard, which made the ending more disturbing.

Cio-Cio-San watches for Pinkerton’s ship through her looking glass, in Pacific Opera Project's production of "Madama Butterfly." (Courtesy of Pacific Opera Project)

Each of these productions offered beautiful music, excellent artistry, and an encouraging level of traditionalism. I was very pleased to see how both companies were committed to presenting not only Japanese culture but Puccini’s music with integrity. If a third production existed, which combined the production scale and Italian singing of SDO’s show with the cultural authenticity and racial accuracy of POP’s, it would be a nearly perfect performance of “Madama Butterfly.”

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