FOR the first time, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SSO) and China Opera House will present local music fans with a complete opera — “Madame Butterfly” — tonight and tomorrow night at Shenzhen Grand Theater.
“Opera is the most spectacular and luxurious form of musical representation that man has ever invented. Our city should have it,” said Yu Feng, conductor and artistic director of the SSO.
He said in their day, each new opera was the equivalent of a movie blockbuster.
“It’s the supreme form of musical representation, whose charms go beyond the imagination of many. We want to offer citizens the chance to enjoy opera.”
A combination of music, literature, drama, stage design and luscious costumes, opera presents a rich and beautiful comprehensive show.
The conductor said opera music will touch the audience, bringing them joy and sorrow. “‘Madame Butterfly,’ with its striking story and arias, will move everyone in the audience,” he said.
“I watched the show four years ago in Beijing, and decided to bring it here. It costs more than 3 million yuan (US$396,000) to stage an opera, and it has taken us four years to work it out.”
Soprano Ma Mei, Liu Hong-ling, and tenor Wang Feng will perform the roles of Cho Cho San and Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton.
The aria “A Sunny Day” is the most famous song in “Madame Butterfly,” a masterpiece by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. In the second act, Cho Cho San sings of her imaginary love for Pinkerton returning home on a warship on a sunny morning. Puccini borrowed many themes from Japanese folk songs to compose “Butterfly.”
An opera in three acts, its Italian libretto was written by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It was partly based on a short story by John Luther Long, and also on the novel, “Madame Chrysanthemum” (1887), by Pierre Loti. The first version of the opera premiered Feb. 17, 1904 at La Scala in Milan. Today, the opera is enjoyed in two acts in Italy, while in America the three-act version is more popular.
Set in Japan’s Nagasaki in the early 1890s, the title character, Japanese geisha Cho Cho San, 15, is betrothed in a marriage of convenience to Pinkerton, an American naval officer stationed in Japan. He leaves for the United States, promising to return, but comes back three years later married to an American woman. Pinkerton even demands to take away Cho Cho San’s child. She agrees, but then stabs herself. The officer begs her forgiveness, and she dies in his arms.
The success of “Butterfly” encouraged Puccini to try other operas with an Oriental theme, like “Turandot” about a Chinese princess.
The SSO’s best players will perform the opera, sung in Italian with Chinese subtitles. (Li Dan)