Opera Interludes at Clacton & North East Essex Arts & Literary Society on January 12 2009
Opera Interludes
presents
a highlight performance
of
M ADAMA
B UTTERFLY
by Giocomo Puccini
Text by Giacosa and
Illica
First performed at Teatro alla Scala,
Milan 17th February 1904
Cio Cio San (Madame Butterfly)
............... Rosa Lee Thomas
Lieutenant
Pinkerton .................................. Cameron Rolls
Sharpless ...................................................... Dean Robinson
Suzuki .....................................….................. Claire Bradshaw
Pianist ........................................…............... Nicholas Bosworth
Production/Introduction ............................. Philip Blake-Jones
Wardrobe Mistress ………………………. Mirella
Challice
Opera
Interludes and sister company London
Festival Opera bring together established artists from the major British opera companies with exceptional young
singers for private, charity and corporate performances and festivals. Over the last decade the company has achieved a considerable reputation for
presenting opera in theatres, palaces, country houses and embassies. Recent engagements have been in London, Rome, Venice, Trieste, Como, Paris,
Berlin, Hamburg, Lisbon, Montreux, Monte Carlo and Moscow. Venues
in the United Kingdom include St James’s Palace, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, The House of Commons,
10 Downing Street, Blenheim Palace, The Victoria and Albert Museum and at the Windsor and Salisbury
International Festivals. These engagements have included performances in the presence of senior members of the
British Royal Family on many occasions. Recent engagements overseas
include in Moscow during the state visit of Her Majesty The Queen, The British Embassy in Paris, for The
President of Malta at the Palace in Valletta, at the Barbados Festival and in a Gala Concert in Hamburg with the
City of London Sinfonia for an audience of 5,000. Performances in
2007 have included a Gran Galà in one of Italy’s most prestigious opera houses, the Gran Teatro La Fenice in
Venice.
Synopsis:
A hillside overlooking the town
and harbour of Nagasaki
Part 1
The wedding of Lieutenant
Pinkerton, and American Naval officer, to Cio-Cio-San, a Japanese Geisha known as ‘Butterfly’, is about to
take place. Sharpless, the American Consul, arrives and
Pinkerton explains to him that under Japanese law the house has a 999 year lease which has a monthly option
of renewal, as does the marriage. The two drink a patriotic
toast to America . Pinkerton then
confesses that he is infatuated with Butterfly and is determined to possess her, although he knows that this
may destroy her. Pinkerton proposes a further toast this time
to his eventual ‘real’ wife in America .
Butterfly arrives with her
servant Suzuki. Sharpless discovers that she is but 15, which
she considers already old, and that her family has fallen upon hard times and so the women have been forced
to become Geishas to support themselves. Moved by her
sincerity, Sharpless warns Pinkerton against taking the feelings of his bride too lightly. Butterfly shows Pinkerton her personal possessions and proves how happy
she is by throwing away the relics of her faith and declaring that she has adopted his religion,
Christianity, for which she has been renounced by her family. A
further possession, which she cannot show him now, is a dagger given to her father by the Mikado: an
‘invitation’ to commit suicide, which was obeyed.
Evening descends and Pinkerton
takes her in his arms and whispers tenderly of his love for her. ‘Love me a little’ she begs him, ‘as you would love a baby, for I come
from a people accustomed to and grateful for a little’.
Finally, the lovers sing rapturously of the beauty of the starlit night, and when their song ends, the pair
go slowly into the house, and the last word is left to the orchestra.
Part 2 - three years later
Butterfly and the faithful
Suzuki are still living in the house, Pinkerton having left promising to return ‘in the happy season when
the robins are nesting’. Suzuki weeps and Butterfly scolds her
for her faithlessness. Butterfly, who now has Pinkerton’s son,
assures her that ‘one fine day’ he will return.
Part 3
Pinkerton has returned and
Butterfly waits all night for his return. Suzuki has persuaded
her to rest after her vigil. Sharpless arrives with Pinkerton
and they tell Suzuki that they have come early in the morning hoping to find her alone in order to enlist
her support concerning the future of the child. Learning that
Butterfly is still devoted to him Pinkerton is filled with remorse and cannot remain to face
her.
Suzuki is left to tell Butterfly
the truth that Pinkerton now has a ‘proper’ American wife, at which point Butterfly enters sure that her
husband has come back to her. She immediately suspects
something is wrong, and when Suzuki tells her Butterfly bears the knowledge of the terrible truth with
dignity. She declares that ‘All is dead for me. All is finished’ before agreeing to give Pinkerton their child on the
condition that he will come and fetch him.
Butterfly is left alone, and
taking her father’s dagger she reads the inscription: ‘Let him die with honour he who cannot live with
honour’. Pinkerton and Sharples return as Butterfly takes her
last breath.
INTERVAL
The company will perform a selection of ‘popular encores’
including the works
of Mozart, Verdi,
Rossini, Bizet and Puccini
Complete Opera Productions, Highlight Performances, Opera Galas, Opera Singers for a wedding or for a party, in
London or throughout the UK and internationally.
Madame Butterfly - highlight performance in Barbados Throughout the centuries musical performances have been
presented in palaces, country houses and gardens long before the formal concert hall or theatre became part of
musical culture.
In the 18th century much of the music of great composers such as Handel and Mozart was written for performances
in the homes of their patrons but it was in the late 19th century that the 'soirée' as we know it today
developed.
Hosts would entertain their guests before, during, or after dinner with a musical presentation of the highest
standard. Now, when many of the world's greatest houses are increasingly available for corporate entertainment,
charity and private events, it is only natural that music should have become a part of such occasions.
Opera Interludes has done much to revive the tradition of presenting a programme of opera and music to be linked
with a dinner or party. A Gala or Soirée programme can include well known arias and ensembles from opera and
operetta and songs from popular musicals, if required. We also offer a programme of full length operas or
highlights.
Opera Gala or Opera Soirée Evening
The programme of opera, operetta and musicals can be presented before, after, or in sections during the courses
of dinner, is usually presented with spoken introductions, and with a 'light touch' when appropriate. The evening
can include special requests and audience involvement, and we take pleasure in working with our clients to devise
the perfect programme for each event. The opera singers appear in period costume or modern evening dress.
Our Opera Galas have provided the entertainment for Corporate Events, Charity Fundraising Events, Birthday
Parties, Weddings, Wedding Anniversaries, and Product Launches.
Opera Gala for a Corporate Event
Claridge's London (The Ball Room) - Farewell party for senior company member - approximately 200 guests.
Opera Interludes supplied a programme, lasting approximately 45 minutes, of popular opera and musicals in three
sections between the dinner courses. The entertainment began with a 'surprise waiters start' - the tenor and
baritone posed as hotel staff and burst into song at the appropriate moment to the amazement of the guests. The
evening then continued with the other two sections between the dinner courses, ending with the musicals and a grand
finale of 'Tonight' from 'West Side Story'. The cast was four opera singers (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor,
baritone) and a pianist.
Client comment: 'A thousand thanks for the superb performance you gave last week. Our principle guest was
completely bowled over by the high standard of your opera singers, and the response from the other guests has been
rapturous, as the standing ovation must have indicated on the night. The intimacy of the performance and
interaction with the audience was particularly successful in the setting'
Opera Gala far a Birthday Party
Private House in Wiltshire, approximately 50 guests.
Taking into account the audience, which ranged from 7 years to over 90, we prepared a varied programme of 45
minutes performed at the end of dinner. There were various arias and ensembles which involved the audience creating
fun and amusing moments, in addition to the more serious repertoire: Figaro, the 'Barber of Seville', attempted to
cut and arrange the guests' hair as he sang his celebrated aria, 'Carmen' serenaded the gentlemen in the audience
and gave them flowers, as she does in the opera, and in Gilbert and Sullivan's 'I am the very model of a modern
Major General' the guests had the words printed in their programme/menus and joined in the well-known refrain. The
evening ended with an operatic 'Happy Birthday'
Client comment: 'I simply cannot find the right words to describe how I felt about the contribution Opera
Interludes made towards our party on Saturday! The singers were out of this world and the pianist brilliant. I have
been showered with thank you letters all praising the wonderful opera. I cannot thank you enough for making the
evening so special and one that we will never forget.'
Highlight Performance
In the Highlight series we present the key scenes from a particular opera, linked with narration, giving
abridged versions of Verdi's 'La Traviata', Bizet's 'Carmen', Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' or Puccini's 'Madama
Butterfly'. The performances are dramatised and presented in full costume.
This series is unique to Opera Interludes, and offers the client the opportunity to invite their guests to a
specific opera but as the performances last approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, the opera can be comfortably
linked with a dinner. Also, because of the smaller cast involved the cost is considerably less than a full opera
production.
The Highlight Performance can be followed by a short selection of well known 'encores' from the popular operas
and musicals, if appropriate.
| 
