Anthony Minghella’s beautiful, atmospheric production enhances Puccini’s drama of doomed love. Soprano Kristine Opolais rings all of her passionate commitment to her portrayal of Cio-Cio-San, the teenage geisha who gives up everything for Lt. Pinkerton. Tenor Roberto Alagna is the American naval officer who does not understand the depth of Cio-Cio-San’s love and whose subsequent marriage to an American woman precipitates Butterfly’s suicide. Mezzo-soprano Maria Zifchak is Suzuki, Cio-Cio- San’s faithful servant, and baritone Dwayne Croft plays the American consul Sharpless, who tries to avert the tragedy. Karel Mark Chichon conducts.
A scene from Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.”
Kristine Opolais as Cio-Cio-San and Roberto Alagna as Pinkerton in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.”
