A Joachim Herz production of Giacomo Puccini’s tragic, three-act opera Madam Butterfly, which critiques imperialism and its damning consequences, will arrive at Dubai Opera on March 2 and run until March 4.
The Welsh National Opera has been performing Herz’s production for over 35 years. Though it was once sung in English, the latest incarnation is sung in Italian with English subtitles.
Set in the early 1900s in Nagasaka, Japan, the story follows Lieutenant Pinkerton, a member of the United States Navy, who enters into a marriage of convenience with a too-young Japanese girl, Cio-Cio San — the titular Madam Butterfly (Cio-Cio is pronounced “chocho”, which is the Japanese word for butterfly).
Cio-Cio San falls for Pinkerton. But Pinkerton sees their relationship as nothing but a distraction during his posting to Japan. He leaves Cio-Cio behind for three years. She waits patiently for his return, meanwhile falling into poverty and giving birth to their child.
When Pinkerton returns, it’s American Consul Sharpless who pays Cio-Cio a visit. He has bad news that he struggles to share: the Lieutenant has come back, but with a new, American wife. Even worse, Pinkerton wants to adopt and raise the baby with Kate, not Cio-Cio.
Desolate and heartbroken, Cio-Cio knows that Pinkerton and Kate would be able to give her child a better life. She says goodbye to her son and kills herself.
Performances of Madam Butterfly will run for approximately two hours and a 45 minutes, including one interval.
The opera is an ode to several original texts. It was based on the short story Madam Butterfly, released in 1898 by John Luther Long; Long was inspired by stories his sister, Jennie Correll, told him, as well as the semi-autobiographical 1887 French novel Madam Chrysantheme, written by Pierre Loti.
Welsh National Opera, the company behind the Dubai-bound production, was formed in 1943, when a group of people, including miners, teachers, and doctors, came together from across South Wales. They wanted to create an opera company that could elevate Wales’ reputation as the ‘land of song’.
Their UAE dates for Madam Butterfly are part of a wider UK tour.
Tickets, starting from Dh500 on March 2 and 3 and Dh300 on March 4, are available from dubaiopera.com.
More in March...
La boheme at Dubai Opera (March 9-11)
Similar to the Madam Butterfly production, La boheme was composed by Giacomo Puccini and will be presented by the Welsh National Opera in Dubai in Italian with English subtitles.
La boheme tells a story of love and loss in bohemian Paris, where poet Rudolfo — one of four friends living together in a garret — falls in love with his neighbour, the seamstress Mimi. However, their love is put to the test and meets a tragic end.
Annabel Arden’s production of La boheme was first performed by Welsh National Opera in 2012.
Tickets are available from Dh300 via dubaiopera.com.
BBC Proms at Dubai Opera (March 21-24)
The BBC Proms, an eight-week summer season of concerts, talks, workshops and family events in the UK that is now in its 112nd year, aims to bring classical music to a wide audience.
Over the course of four days, the UAE will get a taster of this British tradition, culminating with the Last Night of the Proms on March 24.
The music will be performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers, as part of the musicians’ first visit to the UAE (the Proms rarely travels outside of the UK).
A ticket to all six performances — the Proms Season Pass — is available for Dh300 via dubaiopera.com.
