Visually, Madame Butterfly by Robert Wilson is of a breathtaking aesthetic refinement. Scenes, frozen or animated, follow one another in an extremely stripped-down setting, accompanied by explosions of colors and lights. In this tragedy, the American director was inspired by Noh theater and Butoh, a contemporary Japanese dance theater that is distinguished by its slowness. On stage, the artists move with an economy of gestures throughout the show.
Robert Wilson (link in English) surrounded himself with choreographer Suzushi Hanayagi and costume designer Frida Parmeggiani. Created more than thirty years ago, in 1993, the staging has not aged a day and remains as convincing as ever. The 82-year-old artist, present at the premiere of Madame Butterflyon September 14, 2024, at the Opéra Bastille, received a standing ovation from the audience at the end of the show.
What does the opera tell us? Madame Butterfly ? Originally, it is a short story by the American lawyer and writer John Luther Long, published in 1898. The story is said to be authentic. A young Japanese girl was seduced by an American sailor who then abandoned her. The American short story writer was inspired by a French novel by Pierre Loti (Madame Chrysanthemum, 1888) which narrated the short-lived marriage of a French Navy officer with a young Japanese woman from Nagasaki.
These unions were not uncommon at the time. For a fee and the consent of the bride’s parents, they allowed Westerners to consummate a marriage that lasted only for the duration of a stay. A sort of marriage of pleasure, to the detriment of young women.
Adapted two years later for the theater by David Belasco, Madame Butterfly met with immediate success. In 1900, Giaccomo Puccini attended a performance of the play in London. Captivated, he requested the adaptation rights for the opera. With his librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, he set about creating the “Japanese tragedy in two acts”. The premiere at La Scala in Milan in 1904 turned into a disaster. Was Puccini ahead of his time?
Madame Butterfly can be read from different angles: the classic theme of the seduced and abandoned woman, the denunciation of power relations, or even the West despoiling the East. Up to cultural alienation.
For her premiere at the Paris Opera, Italian soprano Eleonora Buratto plays Cio-Cio-San, Madame Butterfly, a 15-year-old geisha who, for love of the American officer Pinkerton, renounces her name, her family and her culture. Cio-Cio-San’s love is complete, unconditional, and leaves no room for doubt.
For Pinkerton, played by tenor Stefan Pop, she is just a “trophy wife.” On his wedding day, he drinks a toast to his distant family: “And on the day that will see my real wedding, with a real bride… American.” And meanwhile, he is attracted to “this little butterfly, which flutters and lands with this silent grace.” A beautiful and mute butterfly. “Then I feel a furious desire to pursue him, even if it meant breaking his wing.” The prey and the hunter.
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Eleonora Buratto and Stefan Pop impress with their presence and theatricality. Carried by waves of Japanese music coming out of the pit, under the direction of Speranza Scappucci, the soprano imbues her character with a kaleidoscope of emotions and delivers an almost athletic performance. Also noteworthy is the performance of Aude Extrémo, who plays Suzuki, servant and confidante of Cio-Cio-San. Madame Butterflya major work.
Title : Madame Butterfly
Duration : 2h45 with 1 intermission
Music : Giacomo Puccini
Booklet: Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica; after David Belasco, play adapted from a short story by John Luther Long
Language : Italian
Surtitles: French/English
Musical direction: Speranza Scappucci
Staging and sets: Robert Wilson
Costumes: Frida Parmeggiani
Lights: Heinrich Brunke, Robert Wilson
Choreography: Suzuki Hanayagi
Dramaturgy: Holm Keller
Choirmaster: Alessandro Di Stefano
Orchestra and Chorus of the Paris National Opera
Distribution : Eleonora Buratto, Elena Stikhina, Aude Extrémo, Stefan Pop, Christopher Maltman, Carlo Bosi, Sofia Anisimova, Kim Young-Woo
Place : Bastille Opera (Paris)
Dates: Until October 25, 2024
Synopsis: Poor Madame Butterfly! This young 15-year-old geisha has renounced her family and her Japanese traditions for the love of an American lieutenant who abandons her. From this classic theme of a seduced and abandoned woman, Giacomo Puccini draws an opera with lush orchestration and ardent lyricism. Created in 1904 at La Scala in Milan, its score filled with oriental colors intensely translates the contrast between the brutality of the Pinkerton officer and the vulnerability of Butterfly, as fragile as the wings of a butterfly. For Robert Wilson, this Japanese tragedy becomes the ideal breeding ground for the expression of the formalism he claims. Far from the traditional fans or cherry blossoms, the director uses a stylized acting and a bare space that allow the melodic lines to blossom in all their purity.
Broadcasts:
Live broadcast on October 1, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. on France.tv. The opera will be broadcast in theaters in many countries from June 2025, distributed by Pathé Live. The opera will also be broadcast later on a France TV channel and on Paris Opera Play (POP).