The Metropolitan Opera: Madama Butterfly

The Metropolitan Opera: Madama Butterfly

142 mins | Drama, Music | Nov. 9, 2019

Ever since it opened the 2006–07 season, Anthony Minghella’s striking production of Madama Butterfly has been a Met classic. Drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese theater, Minghella’s staging retells this heartbreaking tale with brilliant stagecraft, bold colors, and bunraku puppetry. In this Live in HD performance from the fall of 2019, Chinese soprano Hui He stars as Cio-Cio-San, the young geisha who puts her trust in a visiting American naval officer, only to later be abandoned by him. In a feat of operatic heroics, tenor Bruce Sledge appears as the callous Pinkterton, stepping into the role on short notice to replace an ailing colleague. Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts one of opera’s most tragic masterpieces, leading a cast that also includes mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong as Cio-Cio-San’s loyal companion, Suzuki, and Tony Award–winning baritone Paulo Szot as the U.S. consul Sharpless.

The Metropolitan Opera: Madama Butterfly

142 mins | Drama, Music | Nov. 9, 2019

The Metropolitan Opera: Madama Butterfly
Ever since it opened the 2006–07 season, Anthony Minghella’s striking production of Madama Butterfly has been a Met classic. Drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese theater, Minghella’s staging retells this heartbreaking tale with brilliant stagecraft, bold colors, and bunraku puppetry. In this Live in HD performance from the fall of 2019, Chinese soprano Hui He stars as Cio-Cio-San, the young geisha who puts her trust in a visiting American naval officer, only to later be abandoned by him. In a feat of operatic heroics, tenor Bruce Sledge appears as the callous Pinkterton, stepping into the role on short notice to replace an ailing colleague. Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts one of opera’s most tragic masterpieces, leading a cast that also includes mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong as Cio-Cio-San’s loyal companion, Suzuki, and Tony Award–winning baritone Paulo Szot as the U.S. consul Sharpless.
Producers The Metropolitan Opera
Original title The Metropolitan Opera: Madama Butterfly
Directors Paula Williams, Habib Azar
Writers David Belasco, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa

Cast

Hui He

as Cio-Cio-san

Bruce Sledge

as Lt. B.F. Pinkerton

Scott Scully

as Goro

Elizabeth DeShong

as Suzuki

Paulo Szot

as U.S. Consul Sharpless

Bradley Garvin

as Imperial Commitionor / Imperial Commissioner

Juhwan Lee

as The Registrar

Raymond Aceto

as The Bonze

Jeongcheol Cha

as Prince Yamadori

Christine Goerke

as Self - Host

Elizabeth Scilbo

as Cio-Cio-San's Cousin

Marie Te Hapuku

as Cio-Cio-San's Mother

Craig Montgomery

as Uncle Yakusidé

Anne Nonnemacher

as Cio-Cio-San's Aunt

Megan Esther Grey

as Kate Pinkerton