Fun Facts

Fun Fact
The Broadway musical Miss Saigon takes its inspiration from Madama Butterfly. It tells the story of a Vietnamese woman abandoned by her American lover against the backdrop of the Vietnam War.

Fun Fact
David Belasco, author and director of the play on which Puccini’s opera is based, was known for his innovations in stage technology. In Madame Butterfly, he won particular praise for creating a new and striking lighting effect in Cio-Cio-San’s vigil scene, which replicated the transition from dusk to dawn, including the simulation of starlight. Puccini was very impressed by this episode, set entirely without dialogue, and devised an equally unconventional musical effect for the corresponding moment in his opera, with a chorus of women’s voices humming behind the scene.

Fun Fact
In Italian, “madama” as a form of address is reserved for married women, similar to the English “Mrs.” The opera’s title, Madama Butterfly, can therefore be seen as a commentary on the sad plight of its heroine. Cio-Cio-San herself prefers to be called “Madama Pinkerton,” although none of the other characters ever complies with her wish. The fact that she forever remains “Madama Butterfly” reflects a reality that everyone but her already understands: Her married status and connection to Pinkerton are only temporary.

Fun Fact
In a letter to the music publisher Giulio Ricordi, Puccini described how the wife of the Japanese ambassador, Madame Oyama, was sharing folk songs with him to increase the “faithfulness” of his opera. She also gave Puccini some clear feedback about the names in Madama Butterfly’s libretto: “She does not approve of the name Yamadori, on the ground that it is feminine and otherwise not appropriate,” Puccini wrote. “The uncle's name of Yaxonpidè is wrong too. Similarly the names Sarundpiko, Izaghi, Sganami, etc. are all wrong.” Only some of Madame Oyama’s cultural corrections were heeded: Yamadori, for one, remained the name of a major character.