On July the 21st at 19:30, live.

The Japanese civil code of 1898 – the Horei– established a legal framework which governed diverse aspects of public life as part of the libretto of Madama Butterfly. These include marriage, family rejection, divorce, or adoption. Imperialism, mixed race, and xenophobia are also elements of a narrative harness which navigates the well-mannered and acquiescent Oriental clichés of the preceding century while integrating the story of Cio-Cio San in a few coordinates of realism.

The finesse of Puccini’s score   - in whose music authentic Japanese melodies resonate: «Izuki Uta», «Echigo-Jishi», «Sakurá», «Miyasan, Miyasan» or the Japanese national anthem «Kimi ga yo»– softens the edges of the drama without dismissing its tragic and sordid base, to construct what is probably the composer’s most well-done and profound feminine portrait. Along this line, Damiano Michieletto moves the action to a modern marginal neighbourhood of a big Asian city as a denunciation of a reality - sexual tourism - which lies at the heart of this iconic opera.

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