On July 22, 2017 María José Siri will sing the title role of Madama Butterfly at the Macerata Opera Festival in the premiere of Nicola Berloffa’s production conducted by Massimo Zanetti. The Uruguayan soprano will be the first singer after the creator of the part, Rosina Storchio, to sing the standard setting of Puccini’s opera after having made her role debut in the original 1904 version.

Ms Siri made her debut as Cio-Cio-San in the original version of Madama Butterfly at the inauguration of the Teatro alla Scala’s 2016/17 season on December 7, 2016 conducted by Riccardo Chailly.

The rarely heard original version of the opera was, after a violent rejection by the Milanese audience in 1904, shelved by Puccini, who in the following years revised the opera several times before settling in 1906 on the version familiar to a broader audience. “I had the privilege to make my debut in this role on the same stage where Puccini witnessed his opera’s birth one hundred and twelve years before.”, says María José Siri. “I don’t think I will ever experience such an overwhelming emotion again: La Scala, the inauguration of its season, the original version and the devastating and shattering character of the young mother and geisha. Now, in a few days, making my debut in the final and far more fortunate version of Madama Butterfly, I will have once again the possibility to live even more intensely the drama of this girl, a heroine of all times and still extremely modern. I will try to catch and convey the subtle differences Puccini introduced in what he came to regard as his conclusive thoughts on the opera, and above all I will try to be fully in tune with Cio-Cio-San’s pure, lacerated and strong soul.”

In the upcoming 2017/18 season, other performances of Madama Butterfly will lead María José Siri to the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera of Munich and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Information about Madama Butterfly at the Macerata Opera Festival:

Cio-Cio-San: Maria José Siri; F.B. Pinkerton: Antonello Palombi; Suzuki: Manuela Custer; Sharpless: Alberto Mastromarino; Goro: Nicola Pamio; Il principe Yamadori: Andrea Porta; lo zio Bonzo: Cristian Saitta; Kate Pinkerton: Samantha Sapienza; Yakusidé: Gianni Paci; Il commissario imperiale: Giacomo Medici; L’ufficiale del registro: Alessandro Pucci; La madre di Cio-Cio-San: Mirela Cisman; La zia: Silvia Marcellini; La cugina: Maria Elena Mariangeli; Dolore: Martino Compagnucci.

Massimo Zanetti (direttore); Nicola Berloffa (regia)

Recite: 22, 28 luglio; 6, 12 agosto

http://www.sferisterio.it/macerata-opera-festival/madama-butterfly-2017/

[Photo by Alfredo Tabocchini / Macerata Opera Festival]