‘Love cannot kill: it brings new life.’
On a starlit night in Nagasaki, these are the words spoken by American naval officer Pinkerton to young geisha Cio-Cio-San. But as they both learn, words and promises carelessly spoken can have indelible consequences.
With a score that includes Butterfly’s aria, ‘Un bel dì, vedremo’ (‘One fine day’) and the ‘Humming Chorus’, Giacomo Puccini’s opera is entrancing and ultimately heart-breaking. Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s exquisite production takes inspiration from 19th-century European images of Japan.
Music: Giacomo Puccini
Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica
Directors: Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier
Set designer: Christian Fenouillat
Costume designer: Agostino Cavalca
Lighting designer: Christophe Forey
Conducted by: Nicola Luisotti
Cio-Cio-San: Maria Agresta
Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Joshua Guerrero
Sharpless: Carlos Álvarez
Suzuki: Christine Rice
Goro: Carlo Bosi
Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House