Madame Butterfly at the Met!

Patricia Racette and Roberto Aronica, October 2008 production
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

I'm so excited as tomorrow I'm heading off to NYC with my friend Rob to hear Madama Butterfly at the Met! Several years ago I played in the orchestra for a local production. But... The Met! I wrote about the newly refurbished Swarovski chandeliers a couple of months ago and I now I get to see them in all their dazzling brilliance in person!

I'm also very excited to see the work of world renowned set designer Michael Levine. Michael has designed sets and costumes for major opera companies in North America and Europe including Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, and Paris Opera. Levine received his early training at the Ontario College of Art in his native Toronto and London’s Central School of Art and Design. His many awards include a Gemini award for Best Production Design for the movie September Songs, Paris Critics’ Prize for Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at Aix en Provence, and Edinburgh Festival Music and Arts award for the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Bluebeard’s Castle/Erwartung.

Here are some images from the 2006 Met production, courtesy of Seen and Heard International.

The role of Butterfly's 3 yr. old son was played by a puppet, handled in the Japanese Banraku puppetry tradition of direct manipulation of head and body parts by puppeteers.

The late Anthony Minghella with "Madame Butterfly"

And here is a fun little montage I pulled together in anticipation of my adventure! I love the Fornasetti Opera dishes!

Madame Butterfly by Surroundings