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Opera

Tragedia giapponese in three acts by Giacomo Puccini
Text by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica after David Belasco
Italian with German surtitles

Nagasaki around the year 1900: the American naval officer B. F. Pinkerton marries the geisha Cio-Cio-San, known as Butterfly, without intending a lasting union. For Butterfly, however, the step is a life decision taken with all seriousness and consequences. Puccini's opera, which premiered in 1904, is one of the composer's most popular works in terms of its emotional power and musical density. The opera tells the story of a merciless clash of different desires, different expectations and opposing life plans. Pinkerton tells his friend Consul Sharpless right at the beginning that he will return to his "real" life in America after his adventure with Cio-Cio-San. Butterfly, on the other hand, has renounced her family and origins in order to marry Pinkerton. To Pinkerton's surprise, genuine feelings for Butterfly develop on his side, but even these do not stop him from leaving Cio-Cio-San and returning to America. Firmly convinced that he will return, Butterfly waits for Pinkerton before the cruel reality finally drives her to suicide. Wolfgang Blum staged the opera for the Mannheim National Theatre in 1969. His detailed and psychologically elaborate production with its clear spatial design by Paul Walter has become an integral part of the Mannheim repertoire. In a new staging, the production replaces the originally planned premiere of "The Greek Passion". This content has been machine translated.