A RENOWNED opera company is bringing its extravagant production of Puccini's masterpiece to Weymouth Pavilion next month.

Russian State Opera is stopping at the venue on February 17 with Madam Butterfly, which will captivate and delight the whole family.

Amande Concerts Ltd will be bringing to the UK some 250 performers from the Company as part of their 2016 tours

Set in Japan at the turn of the century, Madam Butterfly is among the most colourful and exotic of all operas, and from its theme of noble self-sacrifice spring melodies that grips your heart.

This tale of the doomed love of an American naval lieutenant and his young Japanese bride inspired Puccini to write some of his most sublime and beautiful music.

It tells the story of a doomed love affair between an American naval officer and his young Japanese bride, whose self-sacrifice and defiance of her family leads to heartbreak and tragedy.

While in Nagasaki, Lt B.F. Pinkerton takes a Japanese wife for the duration of his stay. He sets his sights on Cio Cio San, fragile and delicate as a butterfly. In order to become his bride she must cross cultural boundaries and defy the will of her family.

Pinkerton eventually leaves Japan, but in his absence she gives birth to their child. As time goes by, Cio Cio San is still convinced that Pinkerton will return some day, but her maid, Susuki, believes foreign husbands never return.

When Pinkerton finally does return he has brought his American wife. He has come to take away his son but leaves it to the American Consul to do the dirty job. Shaken to the core, Cio Cio San obeys her husband’s will and hands over her son. The grief and dishonour is too much for her to bear and she kills herself.

Sad and tragic it most certainly is, yet the compelling tale of Madam Butterfly remained Puccini’s favourite opera – his supreme theatrical achievements which also gave the world its most sublime and beautiful arias in history - One Fine Day and Love Duet, and also the Humming Chorus, which has been popular with opera-goers for over a century.

This touching story of innocent love crushed amidst two utterly different cultures

resonates as strongly as ever in today’s world.

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