Last Saturday, Jim treated me to Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Kennedy Center Opera House. The sold-out performance was absolutely magnificent, closing to a standing ovation, bravos galore and me (and a whole lot of other people) in tears.
Set in Japan, depicting the love affair between the 15-year-old Japanese geisha, Butterfly, and a young American naval officer, Madama Butterfly is beloved by music lovers everywhere for its wealth of melody and poignant, heart-on-the-sleeve emotionality. Take a peek at the opera through its spellbinding aria Un Bel Di Vedremo (note; same opera, different production than one we saw).
Perhaps the roots of my love for opera go back to my maternal grandmother who was a trained opera singer. My parents, avid opera patrons, first exposed me to performances via the Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcasts, aired each weekend, spicing up our family's weekend chores. However, it wasn't until my late twenties, during a performance by Placido Domingo, that I became permanently transfixed, on a whole new level, by the passion and power of opera.
It delights me to see the appreciation of opera on the incline, perhaps due in part, to the Met's high definition simulcasts, making first-rate opera available in theaters around the world. Have you been to any of these fabulously up-close productions? If so, which opera did you see?
For an extra treat, here is footage into scenes and music from a very old production of Madama Butterfly, featuring the glamorous Maria Callas, one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century.
Oil on Archival Linen Covered Board (Click Image for better, larger view)
