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Giacomo Puccini operas
Manon Lescaut (1893)
La bohème (1896)
Tosca (1900)
Madama Butterfly (1904)
La fanciulla del West (1910)
Il trittico (Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi) (1918)
Turandot (1926)

“Madama Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini

Madame Butterfly

Premiere / date of written: 17 February 1904

The original version of the opera, in two acts, had its premiere on February 17, 1904, at La Scala in Milan.

Libretti

# Language Authors
1 Italian Giuseppe Adami, Renato Simoni
2 German
3 English
4 French

original libretto
line-by-line of the original libretto

Images

Notable videos

  Renata Tebaldi sings Madama Butterfly

Renata Tebaldi sings "Death of Butterfly" (excerpt) 1961

Audio recordings

Year Cast
Conductor,
Opera chorus and orchestra
Label,
Comment
Buy
1954
Cio-Cio San — Victoria de los Ángeles,
Pinkerton — Giuseppe Di Stefano,
Suzuki — Anna Maria Canali,
Sharpless — Tito Gobbi,
Goro — Renato Ercolani,
Uncle Bonze — Bruno Sbalchiero,
Kate Pinkerton — Maria Huder,
Prince Yamadori — Arturo La Porta
Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Rome Opera House Orchestra and Chorus
Recorded by HMV. CD: Testament Cat: 2168

Amazon.com
1958
Cio-Cio San — Renata Tebaldi,
Pinkerton — Carlo Bergonzi,
Suzuki — Fiorenza Cossotto,
Sharpless — Enzo Sordello,
Goro — Angelo Mercuriali,
Uncle Bonze — Paolo Washington,
Kate Pinkerton — Lidia Nerozzi,
Prince Yamadori — Michele Cazzato (Casato)
Tullio Serafin
Santa Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Chorus, Rome
CD: Decca, Cat: 452594

Amazon.com
1960
Cio-Cio San — Victoria de los Ángeles,
Pinkerton — Jussi Björling,
Suzuki — Miriam Pirazzini,
Sharpless — Mario Sereni,
Goro — Piero De Palma,
Uncle Bonze — Paolo Montarsolo,
Kate Pinkerton — Silvia Bertona,
Prince Yamadori — Arturo La Porta
Gabriele Santini
Rome Opera House Orchestra and Chorus
CD: EMI, Cat: 7636342

Amazon.com
1966
Cio-Cio San — Renata Scotto,
Pinkerton — Carlo Bergonzi,
Suzuki — Anna di Stasio,
Sharpless — Rolando Panerai,
Goro — Piero De Palma,
Uncle Bonze — Paolo Montarsolo,
Kate Pinkerton — Silvana Padoan,
Prince Yamadori — Giuseppe Morresi
Sir John Barbirolli
Rome Opera House Orchestra and Chorus
CD: EMI Classics, Cat: 67888

Amazon.com
1974
Cio-Cio San — Mirella Freni,
Pinkerton — Luciano Pavarotti,
Suzuki — Christa Ludwig,
Sharpless — Robert Kerns,
Goro — Michel Sénéchal,
Uncle Bonze — Marius Rintzler,
Kate Pinkerton — Elke Schary,
Prince Yamadori — Giorgio Stendoro
Herbert von Karajan
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Chorus
CD: Decca, Cat: 417577

Amazon.com
1976
Cio-Cio San — Montserrat Caballé,
Pinkerton — Bernabé Martí,
Suzuki — Silvana Mazzieri,
Sharpless — Franco Bordoni,
Goro — Piero De Palma,
Uncle Bonze — Juan (Joan) Pons,
Kate Pinkerton — María (Asunción) Uriz,
Prince Yamadori — Dalmacio González
Armando Gatto
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Gran Teatre del Liceu Chorus
Audio LP: Decca, Cat: 7484/86

Amazon.com
1978
Cio-Cio San — Renata Scotto,
Pinkerton — Plácido Domingo,
Suzuki — Gillian Knight,
Sharpless — Ingvar Wixell,
Goro — Florindo Andreolli,
Uncle Bonze — Malcolm King,
Kate Pinkerton — Ann Murray,
Prince Yamadori — Jonathan Summers
Lorin Maazel
Philharmonia Orchestra and the Ambrosian Opera Chorus
CD: CBS Masterworks, Cat: 35181

Amazon.com
1987
Cio-Cio San — Mirella Freni,
Pinkerton — José Carreras,
Suzuki — Teresa Berganza,
Sharpless — Juan Pons,
Goro — Anthony Laciura,
Uncle Bonze — Kurt Rydl,
Kate Pinkerton — Marianne Rerholm,
Prince Yamadori — Mark Curtis
Giuseppe Sinopoli
Philharmonia Orchestra, Ambrosian Opera Chorus
CD: Deutsche Grammophon, Cat: 423567

Amazon.com
2009
Cio-Cio San — Angela Gheorghiu,
Pinkerton — Jonas Kaufmann,
Suzuki — Enkelejda Shkosa,
Sharpless — Fabio Capitanucci,
Goro — Gregory Bonfatti,
Uncle Bonze — Raymond Aceto,
Kate Pinkerton — Cristina Reale,
Prince Yamadori — Roberto Valentini
Sir Antonio Pappano
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
CD: EMI Classics, Cat: 456215-2

Amazon.com

Video recordings

Year Cast
Conductor,
Opera chorus and orchestra,
Director
Label,
Comment
Buy
1956
Cio-Cio San — Anna Moffo,
Pinkerton — Renato Cioni,
Suzuki — Miti Truccato Pace,
Sharpless — Afro Poli,
Goro — Gino Del Signore,
Il Bonzo — Dimitri Lopatto,
Kate Pinkerton — Lella Dori,
Il Principe Yamadori — Pierluigi Latinucci
Oliviero De Fabritiis
Chorus and Orchestra della RAI di Milano
Mario Lanfranchi
DVD: VAI

Amazon.com
1974
Cio-Cio San — Mirella Freni,
Pinkerton — Plácido Domingo,
Suzuki — Christa Ludwig,
Sharpless — Robert Kerns,
Goro — Michel Sénéchal,
Il Bonzo — Marius Rintzler,
Kate Pinkerton — Elke Schary,
Il Principe Yamadori — Giorgio Stendoro
Herbert von Karajan
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna State Opera Chorus
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 00440 073 4037

Amazon.com
1995
Cio-Cio San — Ying Huang,
Pinkerton — Richard Troxell,
Suzuki — Ning Liang,
Sharpless — Richard Cowan,
Goro — Jing Ma Fan,
Uncle Bonze — Kusakabe Yo,
Kate Pinkerton — Constance Hauman,
Prince Yamadori — Christopheren Nòmura
James Conlon
Orchestre de Paris
Frédéric Mitterrand
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Amazon.com

External links