Toledo Opera Presents: Puccini’s Madama Butterfly

Toledo Opera presents one of the world’s most beloved operas, Puccini’s masterpiece Madama Butterfly on Saturday November 5th and Friday November 11th, 2005 at 7:30 pm, as well as on Sunday November 13th at 2 pm at the Valentine Theatre in downtown Toledo.

Hear some of Puccini’s most soaring and captivating music in this classic story of colliding hearts and cultures.

Set in Japan in the early 1900’s, Madama Butterfly is the story of a young geisha, Cio-Cio San, who falls in love with a handsome American Naval Officer, Captain Pinkerton. A selfish, irresponsible young man, Pinkerton marries the young geisha, knowing full well that, in his eyes, the marriage is only a temporary convenience and that he will return soon to his American fiancée. Cio-Cio San, on the other hand, believes Pinkerton is marrying her for love.

In this opera season which is all about love, Toledo Opera, in Madama Butterfly, presents the heartrending grief of a young, trusting love betrayed, and Puccini translates all the emotions of the lovers into truly magnificent music.

The part of Madama Butterfly will be sung by Ai-Lan Zhu, one of America’s most sought after interpreters of the lyric repertoire, with notable appearances as: Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly for the Royal Albert Hall in London, L’Opéra de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, and San Antonio Symphony. A native of China, Ms. Zhu studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She was a finalist in the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s Luciano Pavoratti International Vocal Competition.

Tenor, George Dyer, Captain B.F. Pinkerton, is a regular guest of opera companies throughout North America. Recent engagements include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Carolina, Alfredo in La traviata for Opera Columbus and Piedmont Opera, the Duke in Rigoletto and Nanki Poo in The Mikado for Piedmont Opera, Ralph Rakestraw in H.M.S. Pinafore for New York City Opera, and a notable debut in Chicago at the Auditorium Theater in Noel Coward’s operetta After the Ball.

Mezzo-soprano, Gigi Mitchell-Velasco, Suzuki, is well known to Toledo opera fans for her portrayal of Dorabella in Toledo Opera’s production of Cosi fan tutte in 2003. A protégée of Christa Ludwig, Ms. Mitchell-Velasco is a three-time winner of the Robert Lauch Memorial Grant of the New York Wagner Society and a recipient of the American Wagner Association Award at the Liederkranz Competition for Wagnerian Voice.

Baritone, Weston Hurt, Sharpless, had a highly successful debut at Carnegie Hall in 2003 in Britten’s War Requiem. A Juilliard Opera Center graduate, Weston Hurt has been heard as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with the Lyric Opera of San Antonio and Handel’s Oreste at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. 

The part of Bonze will be sung by bass singer, John Hardy, whose recent operatic roles include Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore, Bardolfo in Falstaff at the Wolf Trap Opera, Crespel in Tales of Hoffman with Palm Beach Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Opera Birmingham, Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte with Western Opera Theater, and Frank in Die Fledermaus with the Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera. 

Baritone Mark Lin will sing the role of Yamadori.  His operatic roles have included Schaunard in La bohème, Dr. Grenvil in La traviata and Yamadori in Madama Butterfly. He was a Resident Artist of New York’s Dicapo Opera Theatre for two years, where he sang roles in Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, La Vida Breve and Vanessa. With the National Lyric Opera, he has toured New England performing the parts of Marullo in Rigoletto and the King of Egypt in Aida.

Madama Butterfly will be sung in Italian with English translations projected above the stage. The Valentine Theatre is wheel-chair accessible with parking across the street at a nominal fee.

For tickets and information, visit the Toledo Opera website at www.toledoopera.org or call the Box Office at 419-255-SING (7464), toll-free at 1-866-9048. Ticket prices start at $25.00. Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” an outstanding opera for first-time opera-goers!