Assistant Director
Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini
"If I am not moved, if the libretto does not touch my heart... then it’s not for me." Puccini knew what he was looking for in an opera libretto… and the fact that the story of a delicate Japanese ‘butterfly’ moved him deeply is apparent in every note of the score. The young geisha Cio-Cio-San has been waiting for years for the return of her American ‘husband’, the naval officer Pinkerton. When she finally grasps the truth, her fate is sealed and she takes the action that her code of honor imposes.
Madama Butterfly marked a new phase in Puccini’s development, in which he enriched his musical palette with the exoticism of the Far East. The fact that his direct emotionality contains a universal dimension is clear from the lasting worldwide popularity of this work. Hotel Pro Forma, known to us for their performance of Rachmaninov Troika in 2015, brings East and West together in a theatrical ritual for our time. Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, a master of the Italian repertoire, makes his La Monnaie debut.
La Monnaie Theater
Performances
La Monnaie Theater in Brussels, Belgium
2017
Staging
Kirsten Dehlholm (Hotel Pro Forma)
Conductor
Roberto Rizzi Brignoli / Bassem Akiki
Ah! Quanto cielo! Quanto mar!
Cast
Alexia Voulgaridou: Cio-Cio-San
Amanda Echalaz: Cio-Cio-San
Ning Liang: Suzuki
Qiulin Zhang: Suzuki
Marta Beretta: Kate Pinkerton
Marcelo Puente: F. B. Pinkerton
Leonardo Caimi: F. B. Pinkerton
Aris Argiris: Sharpless
Riccardo Botta: Goro
Aldo Heo: Il Principe Yamadori
Mikhail Kolelishvili: Lo Zio Bonzo
Wiard Witholt: Il Commisario / L’Ufficiale
René Laryea: Yakuside
Birgitte Bønding: Madre di Cio-Cio-San
Rosa Brandao: Zia di Cio-Cio-San
Adrienne Visser: Cugina di Cio-Cio-San
Tim Hammer: Puppeteer
Joris De Jong: Puppeteer
Ruben Mardulier: Puppeteer
Suze Van Miltenburg: Puppeteer
Roberto Rizzi Brignoli: Conductor
Bassem Akiki: Conductor
Kirsten Dehlholm (Hotel Pro Forma): Director
Jon R. Skulberg: Co-director
Marie Lambert: Staging collaborator
Émilie Rault: Assistant director
Maja Ziska: Set Design
Henrik Vibskov: Costumes
Jesper Kongshaug: Lighting
Krystian Lada: Dramaturgy
Kenzo Kusuda: Choreography Collaboration
Ulrike Quade: Puppets Collaboration
Martino Faggiani: Chorus Master
La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Production: La Monnaie / De Munt
Co-production: Ulrike Quade Company
With the support of: Belfius
Photos by Baus