All'Opera: Madame Butterfly

Madame Butterfly first saw the light of day in La Scala in February 1904, and was hotly contested: it was certainly the victim of an ambush organized by enemies of the composer and his editor, but perhaps also of the surprise of the audience faced with a crude and innovative opera, watching as equals the latest developments in European musical theatre. Puccini backed down and began cutting and amending, and three months later at the Grande Theatre in Brescia the opera enjoyed the success that would subsequently accompany it forever, all over the world. After Turandot and La fanciulla del West, Riccardo Chailly continues his critical reinterpretation of the works of Puccini by proposing the first La Scala version for his second 7 December as Principal Conductor: an act of contrition towards Puccini but above all, alongside the subsequent variations, an opportunity to rediscover a Butterfly that is even more audacious in its dramaturgical design. It is directed by Alvis Hermanis, who has already been hailed at La Scala for his new productions of Zimmermann's Die Soldaten and Verdi's I due Foscari, and the cast orbits around Cio-Cio San played by Maria José Siri, an emerging soprano on the greatest international stages.