This is a partial discography of Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly), an opera by Giacomo Puccini. The original version of the opera premiered on February 17, 1904, at La Scala in Milan.
Year | Cast (Cio-Cio San, Pinkerton, Suzuki, Sharpless) | Conductor, Opera house and orchestra | Label [1] [2] /Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1921 | Ottavia Giordano, Santo Santonocito, Ginevra Amato, Adolfo Pacini | Carlo Sabajno Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | LP: Società Nazionale del Grammofono Cat: S 5410-5434 |
1929 | Rosetta Pampanini, Alessandro Granda, Conchita Velasquez, Gino Vanelli | Lorenzo Molajoli Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | LP: Columbia Cat: D 14530-43 CD: Arkadia Cat: 78041 |
1929-30 | Margaret Burke Sheridan, Lionello Cecil, Ida Mannarini, Vittorio Weinberg | Carlo Sabajno Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | LP: HMV Cat: S 10190-205 CD: Romophone Cat: 89001-2 Arkadia, Cat: 78030 |
1939 | Toti Dal Monte, Beniamino Gigli, Vittoria Palombini, Mario Basiola | Oliviero De Fabritiis Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: HMV DB 3859-3874 CD: EMI CHS Cat: 7 69990-2 |
1948 | Eleanor Steber, Jan Peerce, Suzanne Carré, Richard Bonelli | Eugene Ormandy Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and chorus | CD: VAI Cat: VAIA 1220 |
1949 | Eleanor Steber, Richard Tucker, Jean Madeira, Giuseppe Valdengo | Max Rudolf Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | LP: Columbia Records Cat: 13011D -13026D CD: Sony Cat: MH2K 62765 |
1951 | Renata Tebaldi, Giuseppe Campora, Nell Rankin, Giovanni Inghilleri | Alberto Erede Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus | LP: Decca Cat: LXT 2638-2640 CD: Naxos Historical Cat: 8.110254-55 |
1953 | Clara Petrella, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Mafalda Masini, Giuseppe Taddei | Angelo Questa RAI National Symphony Orchestra and chorus | LP: Cetra Cat: OLPC1248/1-3 CD: Warner-Fonit Cat: 0927-43551-2 |
1954 | Victoria de los Ángeles, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Anna Maria Canali, Tito Gobbi | Gianandrea Gavazzeni Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: HMV cat: ALP 1215-1217 CD: Naxos Historical Cat: 8.111291-92 |
1955 | Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Lucia Danieli, Mario Borriello | Herbert von Karajan Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | LP: Columbia Cat: 33CX 1296-1298 CD: Naxos Historical Cat: 8.111026-27 |
1956 | Dorothy Kirsten, Daniele Barioni, Mildred Miller, Clifford Harvuot | Dimitri Mitropoulos Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | LP: Metropolitan Opera Record Club Cat: MO 722 CD: Living Stage Cat: LS 1038 |
1957 | Anna Moffo, Cesare Valletti, Rosalind Elias, Renato Cesari | Erich Leinsdorf Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: RCA Victrola Cat: VICS 6100 CD: RCA Victor Cat: 4145-2 |
1958 | Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Fiorenza Cossotto, Enzo Sordello | Tullio Serafin Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus | LP: Decca Cat: LXT 5468-5470 CD: Decca Cat: 470 577-2 |
1959 | Victoria de los Ángeles, Jussi Björling, Miriam Pirazzini, Mario Sereni | Gabriele Santini Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: HMV Cat: ALP 1795-1797 CD: EMI Classics Cat: 414446-5 |
1962 | Leontyne Price, Richard Tucker, Rosalind Elias, Philip Maero | Erich Leinsdorf RCA Italiana Orchestra and chorus | LP: RCA Victor Cat: LSC 6160 CD: RCA Victor Cat: 09026 68884-2 1964 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording |
1966 | Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Anna di Stasio, Rolando Panerai | John Barbirolli Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: HMV Cat: SAN 184-186 CD: EMI Classics Cat: 3.67720-2 |
1974 | Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Christa Ludwig, Robert Kerns | Herbert von Karajan Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna State Opera chorus | CD: Decca Cat: 417 577-2 |
1976 | Montserrat Caballé, Bernabé Martí, Silvana Mazzieri, Franco Bordoni | Armando Gatto Gran Teatre del Liceu orchestra and chorus | LP: Decca Cat: D68DR 3 |
1977 | Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Gillian Knight, Ingvar Wixell | Lorin Maazel Philharmonia Orchestra Ambrosian Opera Chorus | CD: Sony Classical Cat: SM2K 91135 |
1987 | Mirella Freni, José Carreras, Teresa Berganza, Juan Pons | Giuseppe Sinopoli Philharmonia Orchestra Ambrosian Opera Chorus | LP: Deutsche Grammophon 423 567-1 CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 423 567-2 |
1991 | Miriam Gauci, Yordy Ramiro, Nelly Boschkowá, Georg Tichy | Alexander Rahbari Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Slovak Philharmonic chorus | CD: Naxos Cat: 8.660015-16 |
1997 | Svetlana Katchour, Bruce Rankin, Fredrika Brillemburg, Heikki Kilpelainen | Günter Neuhold Bremer Philharmoniker Staatsorchester Bremer Theater chorus (Original 1904 version) | CD: Naxos Cat: 8.660078-79 |
2008 | Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann, Enkelejda Shkosa, Fabio Capitanucci | Antonio Pappano Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus | CD: EMI Classics Cat: 2641872 |
Year | Cast (Cio-Cio San, Pinkerton, Suzuki, Sharpless) | Conductor, Opera house and orchestra | Label [1] [2] |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Anna Moffo, Renato Cioni, Miti Truccato Pace, Afro Poli | Oliviero De Fabritiis RAI Milano orchestra and chorus | DVD: VAI Cat: VAI 4284 |
1974 | Mirella Freni, Plácido Domingo, Christa Ludwig, Robert Kerns | Herbert von Karajan Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna State Opera chorus | DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 073 4037 |
1986 | Yasuko Hayashi, Peter Dvorský, Hak-Nam Kim, Giorgio Zancanaro | Lorin Maazel Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | DVD: Arthaus Cat: 100 110 |
2004 | Daniela Dessì, Fabio Armiliato, Rossana Rinaldi, Juan Pons | Plácido Domingo Festival Puccini at Torre del Lago Città Lirica orchestra and chorus | DVD/CD: Dynamic Cat: 33457 Cat: CDS 599 [3] |
2011 | Patricia Racette, Marcello Giordani, Maria Zifchak, Greg Fedderly | Patrick Summers Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | DVD: Sony Classical Cat: 88697-80662-9 [4] |
2019 | Riccardo Chailly Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | DVD/Blu ray: Decca Cat: 100 110 | |
Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late-Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera, he later developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
Alice Geraldine Farrar was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." In the 1910s, she also found success as an actress in silent films. She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".
Roberto Alagna is a French operatic tenor. He obtained French citizenship in 1981, while also retaining his previous Italian citizenship.
Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, San Carlo and, especially, the Metropolitan Opera. Often considered among the great opera singers of the 20th century, she focused primarily on the verismo roles of the lyric and dramatic repertoires. Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini called her voice "la voce d'angelo", and La Scala music director Riccardo Muti called her "one of the greatest performers with one of the most extraordinary voices in the field of opera."
Renata Scotto was an Italian soprano, opera director, and voice teacher. Recognised for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered to have been one of the preeminent opera singers of her generation.
Emmy Destinn was a Czech operatic dramatic soprano. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was one of the greatest opera singers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Mirella Freni, OMRI was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she appeared as Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni and as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.
Licia Albanese was an Italian-born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1966. She also made many recordings and was chairwoman of The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, which is dedicated to assisting young artists and singers.
Maria Antonietta Stella was an Italian operatic soprano, and one of the most prominent Italian spinto sopranos of the 1950s and 1960s. She made her debut in Spoleto in 1950, as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore, a year later at Rome Opera, as Leonora in La forza del destino, in 1954 at La Scala in Milan, as Desdemona in Otello, in 1955 at the Royal Opera House in London as Aida, and in 1956 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, in the same role.
Gabriella Tucci was an Italian operatic soprano who was particularly associated with the Italian repertory and performed at notable opera houses worldwide. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 11 Verdi roles across 13 seasons, including Violetta in La traviata and Desdemona in Otello.
Antoinette Halloran is an Australian operatic soprano.
This list includes opera productions of the Opera Group and Opera Company of Boston from 1958 to 1990.
"Un bel dì, vedremo" is a soprano aria from the opera Madama Butterfly (1904) by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is sung by Cio-Cio San (Butterfly) on stage with Suzuki, as she imagines the return of her absent love, Pinkerton. It is the most famous aria in Madama Butterfly, and one of the most popular pieces in the entire soprano repertoire.
Amanda Juliet Holden was a British pianist, librettist, translator, editor and academic teacher. She is known for translating opera librettos to more contemporary English for the English National Opera, and for writing new librettos, especially in collaboration with Brett Dean. She contributed to encyclopedias such as the New Penguin Opera Guide.
Madame Chrysanthème is a novel by Pierre Loti, presented as the autobiographical journal of a naval officer who was temporarily married to a Japanese woman while he was stationed in Nagasaki, Japan. It closely follows the journal he kept of his summer 1885 affair with Kiku (Chrysanthemum) née Kane a few blocks north of Glover Garden in the Jūzenji neighbourhood; modern day Jūninmachi, whence she fled to hometown Takeda due to xenophobia. Originally written in French and published in 1887, Madame Chrysanthème was very successful in its day, running to 25 editions in the first five years of its publication with translations into several languages including English. It has been considered a key text in shaping western attitudes toward Japan at the turn of the 20th century. It is known in Japan under the title of お菊さん, which is a direct translation of the French name.
He Hui, is a Chinese operatic lirico-spinto soprano known in the West and on record covers as Hui He.
Opera Columbus is an American professional opera company in Columbus, Ohio, founded in 1981, and is a member of Opera America. OC employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalists, artisans, stagehands, costumers, and scenic designers—many of whom are members of the Columbus community.
Pier Giorgio Morandi is an Italian oboist and conductor, especially of Italian opera of the 19th and early 20th century, who has worked internationally. After having played as principal oboe at La Scala in Milan, he turned to conducting, holding positions at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest, Royal Swedish Opera and Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. He recorded productions of Verdi's Il trovatore at the Verona Arena and Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera.
Domen Križaj is a Slovenian operatic baritone who has performed internationally, based in Germany. As a member of the Oper Frankfurt, he has appeared in major roles including Mozart's Papageno, Albert in Massenet's Werther, and the Count in Capriccio by Richard Strauss.
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