Aleksey Mikutel in the role of Pinkerton

The production, which the audience will see on 2 February, was staged at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus in 1953 - more than 65 years ago! This production found its second wind in 1965. But the beautiful music of Giacomo Puccini’s great opera appeared on our stage even earlier, because the very first production of Chio-Chio-San was staged in 1940.

On 2 February our audience will see one of Puccini's most touching creations-Madama Butterfly. The love story of a young romantic Japanese woman Chio-Chio-San and an American naval lieutenant is a story in which a happy end is not provided by both the authors and life itself…The opera is based on the play Geisha by David Belasco. When Puccini saw this play during his stay in London, he was thrilled by its vital truthfulness. He proposed Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa writing the opera libretto. The music was created soon. The first performance, which took place on 17 February 1904 in Milan, was failed and removed from the repertoire. But three months later the production (with minor changes) was a resounding success and quickly gained a good reputation as one of the most popular operas.

Madama Butterfly is the Italian opera, despite the exotic plot. The characters can’t hide their emotions and feelings. But this work is filled with endless tenderness. No wonder that Puccini’s production is called "Venetian mask wrapped in rice paper."

Of course, over the decades, each artist has brought to this work something of their own. And Alexei Mikutel, who will debut in the role of Pinkerton on 2 February, is no exception.

On 2 February the performance will feature Tatiana Petrova as Chio-Chio-San, Kriskentia Stasenko as Suzuki, Vladimir Gromov as Sharpless. Viktor Ploskina will conduct.