Poor Madame Butterfly! The 15-year-old geisha, who has renounced her family and Japanese traditions for the love of an American naval officer, finds herself abandoned in favour of a Western wife. Giacomo Puccini used this classic theme of a woman seduced and abandoned to create an opera with lush orchestration and burning lyricism.

Premiered in 1904 at La Scala Milan, his score, full of oriental colours, vividly conveys the contrast between Lieutenant Pinkerton’s brutality and the vulnerability of Butterfly, who is as fragile as a butterfly’s wings.

For Robert Wilson, this Japanese tragedy proves the ideal environment in which to display his signature formalism. Far from the traditional fans and cherry branches, the director uses stylised acting and a stripped-down space to allow the melodic lines to blossom in all their purity.

Directed by François Roussillon
A co-production by the Paris Opera, François Roussillon et Associés, with the participation of France Télévisions
With the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Cercle POP, and with the assistance of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée
This stage production is supported by AFPOB, American Friends of the Paris Opera and Ballet. International TV distribution – Telmondis Distribution
© Opéra national de Paris - François Roussillon et Associés - 2024