Madama Butterfly 1904-2004

“Viva Butterfly, for ever!”Luigi Illica.

This volume celebrates the centennial of the first performance of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly which took place on the 17th of February, 1904, at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan. The essays by Julian Budden (“Forte e nuova, ma non facile”), VittoriaCrespi Morbio (“Madama Pinkerton’s Rouge: Puccini and the Aesthetics of Artifice”) and Maria Pia Ferraris (“A Snapshot View: Giacomo and Cio-Cio-San – An Illustrated Biography of Giacomo Puccini in the Yeard of Madama Butterfly”), accompanied by arich selection of images, guide the reader through a fascinating look at Puccini’s best loved opera.

This book is enriched by the publication of two important documents: David Long’s original story Madame Butterfly and the transposition for theatreby the playwright David Belasco, the source used by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica to write the libretto for Puccini’s work.This volume is edited by Ilaria Narici.