Opera On 3: Live From The Met

In Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Cio-Cio-San or Butterfly to her friends – the young Japanese Geisha and bride of the dashing American officer Pinkerton – finds her romantic dream is shattered when he deserts her soon after their marriage. She lives in hope that one day he will return; and so he does three years later, with his American wife Kate, with devastating consequences for Butterfly.

Cast:
Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly)….Kristine Opolais (soprano)
Pinkerton….Roberto Alagna (tenor)
Suzuki….Maria Zifchak (mezzo-soprano)
Sharpless….Dwayne Croft (baritone)
Lt. B. F. Pinkerton….Gwyn Hughes Jones
Goro….Toby Stevenson
The Bonze….Ricardo Lugo

The Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
The Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
Karel Mark Chichon (conductor)

Presenters/Mary Jo Heath and Ira Siff, Producer/Rebecca Bean for the BBC

Publicity contact: BBC Radio 3 Publicity