Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Puccini’s Madama Butterfly: A Short Guide to a Great Opera
    Unavailable
    Puccini’s Madama Butterfly: A Short Guide to a Great Opera
    Unavailable
    Puccini’s Madama Butterfly: A Short Guide to a Great Opera
    Ebook50 pages25 minutes

    Puccini’s Madama Butterfly: A Short Guide to a Great Opera

    By Michael Steen

    5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Butterfly is a delicate and impressionable geisha who thinks she has married Pinkerton, a US naval officer briefly stationed in Japan. Naive and loving as she is, she does not realise that for him the marriage is a sham, an extended 'date'. It’s not long before he goes away, leaving her pregnant. Still, she trusts that he will return one fine day (Un bel dì). He does, but it is not the homecoming of which Madame Butterfly dreamed: she is devastated to discover that the callous Pinkerton is now married to an American girl. Heartbroken and despairing, Butterfly commits suicide in one of the most tragic and moving climaxes in opera. In this operatic masterpiece, Puccini depicts the clash of two cultures, weaving ‘The Star-spangled Banner’ throughout his music. The Humming Chorus, Ah! Dolce notte! (‘Oh, night of rapture’), and the Flower Song join Un bel dì in any list of favourite tunes.Written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, ‘Short Guides to Great Operas’ are concise, entertaining and easy to read books about opera. Each is an opera guide packed with useful information and informed opinion, helping to make you a truly knowledgeable opera-goer, and so maximising your enjoyment of a great musical experience.Other ‘Short Guides to Great Operas’ that you may enjoy include those on Tosca, La Bohème and Lucia di Lammermoor.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIcon Books
    Release dateMay 18, 2012
    ISBN9781848314764
    Unavailable
    Puccini’s Madama Butterfly: A Short Guide to a Great Opera

    Read more from Michael Steen

    Related to Puccini’s Madama Butterfly

    Related ebooks

    Music For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Commentary: Why Satie? Why Now? How One Composer Embodies Our Time Of Loneliness And Angst

      Jun 19, 2020

      Safe at home has not necessarily meant sane at home. One antidote is a mega-dose of Erik Satie. The French composer's most beguiling and languidly becalming piano pieces, particularly the inescapable "Gymnopedies," began showing up in April and May o

      5 min read

    • Article

      Mighty Lioness

      Oct 1, 2020

      Mighty Lioness
      8 min read

    • Article

      Sounds Unforgettable

      Sep 23, 2022

      Sounds Unforgettable
      6 min read

    • Article

      Louise Farrenc

      May 13, 2021

      Louise Farrenc
      6 min read

    • Article

      Looking For Women's Music At The Symphony? Good Luck!

      May 5, 2017

      Recent surveys show that less than 2 percent of music performed by American orchestras is by women composers. This year's Pulitzer Prize winner, Du Yun, speaks out on diversity in the concert hall.

      7 min read

    • Article

      His Majesty’s pleasure

      Jan 21, 2021

      His Majesty’s pleasure
      5 min read

    • Article

      Provocateur Of The Opera

      Oct 2, 2018

      Provocateur Of The Opera
      8 min read

    • Article

      Madam Butterfly

      Oct 28, 2021

      Madam Butterfly
      6 min read

    • Article

      Tosca Giacomo Puccini

      Oct 1, 2020

      Tosca Giacomo Puccini
      3 min read

    • Article

      Hidden treasures

      Jun 13, 2023

      Between 2001 and ’22, I was tasked with finding a ‘rarely performed’ opera on an annual basis for University College Opera’s yearly production in March. The invitation to take down a piece from the shelf that few, if any, had ever seen, then putting

      6 min read

    • Article

      Farewell To The Greats

      Jan 15, 2020

      AS the new theatrical year takes time to get underway, I find myself thinking back to some of the great names we lost in 2019: in particular, an actor, a dramatist and two directors between whose lives there are strange connections and who all, in di

      4 min read

    • Article

      From Variety to Verismo

      Sep 30, 2021

      From Variety to Verismo
      5 min read

    • Article

      Ruggero Leoncavallo

      Jan 24, 2023

      Ruggero Leoncavallo
      6 min read

    • Article

      Letter From Milan

      May 9, 2023

      Letter From Milan
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Little Extra

      Mar 17, 2022

      A Little Extra
      5 min read

    • Article

      Playing For Her Life

      Nov 1, 2022

      Playing For Her Life
      6 min read

    • Article

      Richard Osborne

      Jul 27, 2022

      Richard Osborne
      3 min read

    • Article

      Inquest Into The Death Of ENO

      Nov 24, 2022

      ONE MORNING HALF A lifetime ago I was sitting in a garret office at the London Coliseum listening to the Queen’s cousin tell me what the public really wanted. The Earl of Harewood — George, when you got to know him better — was managing director of E

      3 min read

    • Article

      Operatic Tales

      May 24, 2021

      Operatic Tales
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letter from Munich

      Dec 13, 2019

      Letter from Munich
      6 min read

    • Article

      Shakespeare Through The Ages

      Apr 15, 2021

      In 1623, the playwright and poet Ben Jonson wrote that his friend Shakespeare “was not of an age, but for all time”. But Jonson could scarcely have imagined the impact and influence Shakespeare would have on four centuries of thinkers, writers, compo

      4 min read

    • Article

      Take This Waltz

      Sep 12, 2018

      Take This Waltz
      7 min read

    • Article

      Letter From Europe

      Dec 21, 2023

      Letter From Europe
      6 min read

    • Article

      Luigi Dallapiccola

      Feb 20, 2024

      Luigi Dallapiccola
      6 min read

    • Article

      OperaHeroines

      Aug 8, 2023

      OperaHeroines
      6 min read

    Reviews for Puccini’s Madama Butterfly

    5/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words