On a flowering terrace above Nagasaki harbor, U.S. Navy Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton inspects the house he has leased from a marriage broker, Goro, who has just procured him three servants and a geisha wife, Cio-Cio-San, known as Madame Butterfly. To the American consul, Sharpless, who arrives breathless from climbing the hill, Pinkerton describes the [...]

Fiery and tempestuous, the character of Carmen has captivated the world’s imagination for more than a century and a half. The passionate and untamed gypsy was first introduced in Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella and became immortal through Bizet’s opera 30 years later. Carmen was originally written for the Opéra Comique in Paris and is a [...]