Songs of Sacrifice

Giacomo Puccini’s timeless opera Madama Butterfly has endured as one of the world’s most beloved because of its simple beauty and universal themes that go beyond cultural mores. The libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica tells the tale of an arranged marriage between the American sailor Lieutenant Pinkerton and the 15-year-old Ciocio-san. "Cio" (pronounced cho) is the Japanese word for butterfly. The action revolves around their wedding, an arrangement of convenience for Pinkerton because he’d prefer an American bride, and Cio’s uncle, a Buddhist monk, discovering her secret conversion to Christianity and Pinkerton’s departure from Japan and eventual return. Reappearing with an American wife, Pinkerton faces the unquestioning devotion of Ciocio-san in the form of her long wait, their child, and her ritual suicide so that their son may be raised in the Western ways of Pinkerton’s new marriage, which she assumes he wishes — an act based more out of her Japanese culture than her newfound Christianity. Pinkerton then realizes what a prize-winning turd he’s been, but it’s too late. Anyone interested in James Clavell’s Shogun will see similarities in this tale of tradition, romance, sacrifice, and yearning but without the imperialistic overtones of that work. This is not a tale of cultural barriers but rather of the fickle nature of the human heart and its strengths and weaknesses. Soprano Kelly Kaduce will interpret Ciocio-san, and Uruguayan engineer-turned-soprano Martin Nusspaumer will play Pinkerton as Florida Grand Opera opens another ambitious season at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami). Single tickets range from $21 in the upper balconies to $250 for grand tier box seats. Call 305-949-6722 or visit arshtcenter.org.
Sat., Nov. 15, 7 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 16, 2 p.m.; Tue., Nov. 18, 8 p.m.; Fri., Nov. 21, 8 p.m.; Sat., Nov. 22, 8 p.m., 2014