Dear San Antonio,
You need to see Madama Butterfly.
If you’ve never seen an opera, this is your chance. The San Antonio Opera is opening its 2009-2010 season with Puccini’s famous Madama Butterfly on September 11-13 at the historic Municipal Auditorium.
It doesn’t matter how little or grand your knowledge of opera is in our city – almost everyone has heard of Madama Butterfly at some point in their lives. Whether you loved the Broadway musical, Miss Saigon, or Weezer’s 1996 album “Pinkerton” (yes, both inspired by Butterfly) – you have been touched by an angel named Giacomo Puccini.
I can honestly and accurately state that I am not an opera expert. I don’t even speak or understand Italian (I’m the person reading the English supertitles above the stage) and a few months ago, knew little to nothing about the story of the Butterfly, even though my parents have owned a vinyl record of the opera my entire life.
Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly was evolved from a novel called Madame Chrysanthemum, written by French author Pierre Loti in 1887. His story of a bored naval officer who marries a "comfort wife" was spruced up by American author John Luther Long, until it finally touched Puccini, who was inspired to write his famous opera.
The story goes a little something like this: Cio-Cio-san (“Butterfly”) is a beautiful Geisha who falls in love with an American naval officer, Lieutenant Pinkerton. In the novel by Long, Pinkterton's character is like any immature American boy in a faraway land. His two goals in going to Japan are (1) Get a tattoo and (2) marry a Japanese woman (a geisha, no less). Puccini doesn't add the tattoo bit in the opera, but I thought it was funny to mention.
If you’ve ever seen or read Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, you’ll understand immediately what a professional blunder and life-change it meant for a geisha to marry. But Cio-Cio-san is a woman in love and the wedding takes place.
As you can imagine, Pinkerton has his fun (Tattoo? Check. Marry a geisha? Double check.) and soon finds an excuse to return to the United States with the empty promise of returning to Butterfly when “the robin builds his nest”.
(Ahem! I’m raising my eyebrows to you, Weezer fans.)
Poor Butterfly waits for Pinkerton for some time, all the while raising their son and passing up the opportunity to marry a wealthy man who wants to be with her. When Pinkteron does return, he brings his (::dun dun dun::) American wife, Kate, who asks the beautiful Geisha for her son (so she and Pinkerton can raise him in the States). At this point, Cio-Cio-san has a grave decision to make. I won’t ruin the end for you. This is as far as I dare go.
The visiting stage director of this opera is none other than Mr. John de Lancie. For those of you who don’t know him, he is a well-known actor and director, best known for his recurring role as “The Q” in the hit TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. In addition to these roles, Mr. de Lancie has appeared on several television shows, such as The West Wing, Judging Amy, Charmed, and Murder She Wrote.
He has also had a successful career in film, appearing on screen in Nicolas, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Multiplicity, Taking Care of Business, Reign Over Me, and Saving Private Ryan (to name a few).
When he came to San Antonio this spring to help the San Antonio Opera announce its new season, he said something at the press conference that stayed with me. He said “The story of the Butterfly is every woman’s story.” He talked about the way Pinkteron "defiles" the Butterfly. And it's true, for in the opera, the Butterfly withers.
If you’ve ever had a broken heart, if you’ve ever felt abandoned or loved another person with unexplainable or divine loyalty – this story will devour your heart and electrify you to your very core.
If you don’t believe me, listen to the Butterfly’s aria from Act 2, “Un bel di” (One Beautiful Day), as she waits for Pinkerton’s return. If the music doesn’t move you enough, here is a nice translation of the lyrics (Thank you, Wikipedia).
Butterfly says that, “one beautiful day”, they will see a puff of smoke on the far horizon. Then a ship will appear and enter the harbor. She will not go down to meet him but will wait on the hill for him to come. After a long time, she will see in the far distance a man beginning the walk out of the city and up the hill. When he arrives, he will call “Butterfly” from a distance, but she will not answer, partly for fun and partly not to die from the excitement of the first meeting. Then he will speak the names he used to call her: “Little one. Dear wife. Orange blossom.” Butterfly promises her friend Suzuki that this will happen.
And for those of you who are Weezer fans, don’t forget lead singer, Rivers Cuomo, wrote the song “Butterfly” from Pinkerton’s point of view.
I told you I would return when the Robin builds his nest
But I ain’t never coming back
I’m sorry
I’m sorry
I’m sorry
I would also like to add here that Rivers Cuomo is married to a Japanese woman himself and is well-known for his affinity for the Japanese culture.
And don't forget the movie that struck fear in the heart of every man who has ever seen it - Fatal Attraction. Thanks again to Wikipedia for this little recap:
"Con Onor Muore was played during a scene in the erotic thriller Fatal Attraction, in which Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) tells Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) the childhood memory of his father taking him to see the opera. Alex later tries to re-enact the act by attempting suicide when Dan leaves. The original ending of the movie featured a successful suicide by Alex, although the ending was reshot before the film reached theaters."
Maybe you’re a Trekkie, or you enjoyed Miss Saigon or movies about psycho ladies who chase after married men. Perhaps you love Weezer or you’re just looking to broaden your cultural horizons: This is a story for every person and this opera is for you.
Support the San Antonio Opera! For ticket information, please visit www.saopera.com or join the San Antonio Opera fan page on Facebook for information on how to win tickets to Madama Butterfly.
