Madama Butterfly

Florentine Opera opens its latest season this weekend with Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, one of the world's most popular operas and one of the greatest. Puccini's music is so psychologically transparent that the listener can absorb the action by listening to the score without benefit of dialogue or visuals and with only a rudimentary knowledge of the story. Madama Butterfly weaves a constant stream of underlying leitmotifs that change rapidly, always yielding melodic riches to illuminate the character's emotional state even before the character sings, motivating the action by enlightening the drama with a constant stream of melody. Todau’s production is at 3:30 p.m.