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SYNOPSIS
ACT ONE – Pinkerton’s House near Nagasaki
It is 1904, fifty years after Japan first admitted foreigners after two-hundred years of isolation, and her people are still adapting to Western customs. Western men stationed in Japan have invented a custom of their own which is sanctioned by Japanese law: temporary “marriages” are nullified if the “husband” is absent for thirty days.
 Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, is entering into just such a “marriage” to a geisha called Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly) and is touring his new house with Goro, the marriage broker. The first wedding guest to arrive is Sharpless, the American consul, who begs him not to enter into the marriage so lightly; he has heard that Butterfly has taken the irrevocable step of renouncing her religion. Pinkerton cannot believe that a geisha would take the ceremony seriously. Butterfly arrives with her friends and family, and the contract is signed. Suddenly there is a big commotion and her uncle, the Bonze, appears and denounces her for having forsaken her gods – her family turns from her in horror, and leaves her alone with her new husband and her maid, Suzuki. Pinkerton consoles her, and they begin their wedding night with a rapturous duet.
ACT TWO – Scene 1: Inside the house, three years later
When Pinkerton was recalled to America shortly after his marriage, he left Butterfly some money; now, three years later, she and Suzuki are nearly impoverished. Butterfly is so confident that her husband will return that she refuses an offer of marriage from the Prince Yamadori; she says she is bound by the laws of her adopted country. Sharpless brings a letter from Pinkerton asking him to break the news that he is indeed returning – but with his American wife. Butterfly is so delighted to hear of her husband’s return that Sharpless is unable to deliver the rest of the message; she shows him Pinkerton’s child and, deeply moved, Sharpless leaves her. A cannon is heard from the harbor; it is Pinkerton’s ship, and in a fever of excitement Butterfly and Suzuki decorate the house with flowers and settle down to wait for him as night falls.
Scene 2: Inside the house, the next morning
 As dawn breaks, the calls of sailors are heard from the harbor. Butterfly is still watching for Pinkerton, but Suzuki convinces her to go and rest. Sharpless arrives with Pinkerton and Kate, his American wife. Pinkerton realizes the depth of Butterfly’s devotion and is overcome with remorse; he rushes out and leaves Kate and Sharpless to face Butterfly. They beg Suzuki to prepare her mistress for the blow; Kate wishes to adopt the little boy. When Butterfly learns the truth, she asks only that Pinkerton himself shall come to fetch the child. Left alone, she says farewell to her son and kills herself.
--Stage Director Colin Graham, Courtesy of Opera Theatre of St. Louis
Photos courtesy Minnesota Opera
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