‘Love cannot kill: it brings new life.’
On a starlit night in Nagasaki, these are the words spoken by American naval officer Pinkerton to young geisha Cio-Cio-San. But as they both learn, words and promises carelessly spoken can have indelible consequences.
With a score that includes Butterfly’s aria, ‘Un bel dì, vedremo’ (‘One fine day’) and the ‘Humming Chorus’, Giacomo Puccini’s opera is entrancing and ultimately heart-breaking. Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s exquisite production takes inspiration from 19th-century European images of Japan.
Directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, and sung by Maria Agresta (Cio-Cio-San), Joshua Guerrero (Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton), Carlos Álvarez (Sharpless), Christine Rice (Suzuki), Carlo Bosi (Goro)
Sung in Italian with English subtitles
Centre for the performing and visual arts in Anglesey, North Wales
