Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Madama Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini

Aleksandra Kurzak as Cio-Cio-San and Matthew Polenzani as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

30 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023, USA

Anthony Minghella’s production of Puccini’s immortal weepie has been with us since September 25, 2006, the opening night of the continuing Peter Gelb regime. With its sliding screens, cascading rose petals, and a heartbreaking Bunraku puppet as Trouble, the mixed-race little son of the geisha and the irresponsible U.S. naval officer who marries her with his fingers crossed behind his back, the Minghella Butterfly is still a great show. As a vehicle for the debut of an artist of Asmik Grigorian’s kilowattage, however, it seems a little shopworn. After all, her European datebook over the past decade has been studded with new production after newsmaking new production of standard repertory and rareties alike. Oh, well. Any port in a storm. Even if Puccini’s japonaiserie is running afoul of the politically correct, Cio-Cio-San remains a great role. As Pinkerton, the Yankee naval officer, the hot new tenor Jonathan Tetelman—new at the Met this season in Puccini’s lame operetta La Rondine—gets a second and tastier bite of the apple. —Matthew Gurewitsch

Photo: Ken Howard/Met Opera