1887 french play that inspired a puccini opera

The original version of the opera, in two acts, had its premiere on 17 February 1904 at La Scala in Milan. Long's version was dramatized by David Belasco as the one-act play Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan, which, after premiering in New York in 1900, moved to London, where Puccini saw it in the summer of that year. It is based on the short story ' Madame Butterfly' (1898) by John Luther Long, which in turn was based on stories told to Long by his sister Jennie Correll and on the semi-autobiographical 1887 French novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti.

A famous singer, sought-after painter and Rome‘s sadistic chief of police get caught up in a tangle of love, jealousy, desperation, torture and murder.Madama Butterfly ( Italian pronunciation: Madame Butterfly) is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Political turmoil, an oppressive social situation in northern Italy’s industrial cities and an assassination attempt on King Umberto I in July 1900 ensured that the success of Tosca, particularly abroad, was slow to catch on. The world premiere took place in 1900 in the Teatro Costanzi in Rome and was a flop, probably because of a threatened bomb attack during the performance.

He was involved in writing the libretto, which is true to the original, with Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The piece gripped him even though, not speaking French, he hadn’t understood a word. Giacomo Puccini was inspired to write his opera after seeing Sardou’s play during the winter of 1889 in Milan. Andreas Kriegenburg staged the historically accurate, in the space of 24 hours, action as an exciting thriller, dealing with the heart-rending tragedy in a realistic way.

1887 french play that inspired a puccini opera