Iphigénie en Aulide et Tauride, C. W. Gluck
, the 8.Emmanuelle Haïm - Dmitri Tcherniakov
Corinne Winters, Véronique Gens, Florian Sempey, Russell Braun
Le Concert d’Astrée
Grand Théâtre de Provence
Pelléas et Mélisande, C. Debussy
, the 9.Susanna Mälkki - Katie Mitchell
Julia Bullock, Lucile Richardot, Huw Montague Rendall, Laurent Naouri
Grand Théâtre de Provence
Madame Butterfly
G. Puccini
"Madama Butterfly" was, according to Puccini’s own statement, Puccini’s favorite work: "...of all the operas I have written, the most deeply felt and suggestive. After the composer had approached the Far Eastern subject with zeal, he set about studying Japanese musical culture and the customs and traditions of the country with great energy. He even sought out a Japanese actress who was touring Europe to listen to the timbre of the Japanese female voice. Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) masterfully blended his own style with authentic Japanese melodies and the use of exotic instruments, giving the opera its unmistakable atmosphere.
Guilt, atonement and the blossoming of a deep love are the core themes of the work. The tragic figure of the Butterfly is at the center of the action: Puccini completes her development from happy bride to abandoned mother and finally to suicide victim with dreamy, ecstatic melodies and arias. All the other characters in the piece, even the male lead character Pinkerton, are vocally and action-determining rather than marginal figures.
As devastating as the premiere was for the composer in February 1904 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, "Madama Butterfly" began its great triumphal march around the world in a revised version in May 1904 in Brescia.
Madame Butterfly♪, G. Puccini
, the 10.Daniele Rustioni - Andrea Breth
Ermonela Jaho, Mihoko Fujimura, Adam Smith, Lionel Lhote
Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon
Théâtre de l’Archevêché