The Metropolitan Opera: Madama Butterfly

IMDb 0.0 2019 • 142 min • MusicDrama

Director

Habib Azar

Country

US

Plot Summary

Ever since it opened the 2006–07 season, Anthony Minghella’s striking production of Madama Butterfly has been a Met classic. Drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese theater, Minghella’s staging retells this heartbreaking tale with brilliant stagecraft, bold colors, and bunraku puppetry. In this Live in HD performance from the fall of 2019, Chinese soprano Hui He stars as Cio-Cio-San, the young geisha who puts her trust in a visiting American naval officer, only to later be abandoned by him. In a feat of operatic heroics, tenor Bruce Sledge appears as the callous Pinkterton, stepping into the role on short notice to replace an ailing colleague. Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts one of opera’s most tragic masterpieces, leading a cast that also includes mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong as Cio-Cio-San’s loyal companion, Suzuki, and Tony Award–winning baritone Paulo Szot as the U.S. consul Sharpless.

Top Cast

Hui He
Hui He Cio-Cio-san
Bruce Sledge
Bruce Sledge Lt. B.F. Pinkerton
Scott Scully
Scott Scully Goro
Elizabeth DeShong
Elizabeth DeShong Suzuki
Paulo Szot
Paulo Szot U.S. Consul Sharpless