#opera4me

Madame Butterfly – A resource for Teachers

Sarah Spiteri
Guidelines for Teachers

Welcome to the Teacher Resource Kit on Madame Butterfly one of Giacomo Puccini’s best loved operas.
This resource kit has been carefully prepared for you in connection with the production of this same opera
for the Gaulitana Festival during the month of April 2017.

The special performance for schools that your pupils will be viewing will feature only a limited selection
of arias from the whole opera, focusing on 2 of the main characters in the story:

Cio-Cio-San also known as Madam Butterfly - a Geisha who is contracted to marry Pinkerton

BF Pinkerton - a US Naval Officer who is posted in Nagasaki

This pack is designed as a starting point which combined with the teacher’s input will give you a sound
basis for guiding your pupils through post performance activities.

Preparing your pupils to come and see an opera can seem bit daunting. However, most young people
know and have heard more opera that you may think. The power of opera to convey extremes of emotion
is immense – music from opera is used on a regular basis in films and advertisements. The successful West
End musical Miss Saigon is based on (and inspired by) the story of Madame Butterfly

Included in the Teacher Resource Kit are the following materials:

A resource booklet for teachers containing information on the life, times and music of the Italian
composer Puccini, programme notes on the Opera Madame Butterfly, ideas for discussions and
activities.

Links to relevant videos on what is Opera.

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Table of Contents

What is an Opera? 3
Opera Voices types 3
Opera Lingo 3
What is opera …… on video 4
About Giacomo Puccini 5
Background to the Opera 6
The story board 7
The Geisha Culture 8
The Kimono 9
Japanese traditional instruments 10
The Sino – Japanese War 11
Teaching ideas – Points for discussion 12

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Opera is a dramatic stage performance set to
music.
An opera is a theatre piece, like a play but
instead of speaking the lines the characters sing
them. In most operas there are no spoken
words, everything is sung from beginning to
end.
An opera can take you on a rollercoaster of
action, adventure, love, death, deceit and
conflict.
An orchestra accompanies an opera and they
introduce the main themes of the opera during
the Overture, which is played at the beginning
of the opera.
Soprano The highest female voice.
Mezzo Soprano A lower female voice.
Tenor The highest male voice.
Baritone Lower than a tenor but higher than a
bass.
Bass The lowest male voice.
Opera Lingo
Libretto Italian for “little book”, the text
accompanying the music.
Overture The instrumental beginning to the
opera, that introduces the opera’s main
themes.
Aria Italian word for “air”. This is a song for a
solo voice and is used to communicate the
emotion of a character.
Chorus A group made up of a number of
Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor, and Bass performing
as an ensemble.
Diva A female opera star. Translated into
“goddess”; may imply a demanding or highly-
strung star.
Bravo! The Italian word of approval that is
often shouted by the audience at the end of a
performance.
Vibrato The wavering tone added by a singer
whilst sustaining a note.
Coloratura A very high-pitched soprano that
has extreme vocal agility and can perform
highly elaborate fast and high singing with
accompanying trills.
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What is Opera ….. on videos.
Opera Santa Barbara took a visit to the local
Farmer’s Market to find out how shoppers
would describe opera.

If a song were a snack, then Opera would be

a three course meal

Behind the scenes with Georgia State

University’s Opera Theatre as they prepare
for ‘Madame Butterfly’. Get to know more
about the art form that Caroll Freeman calls
‘the Plympics of all the arts.’

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Giacomo Puccini was born in 1858 in Lucca, Italy. He came from a long line of musicians. His
father was a choirmaster and organist and it was expected that Giacomo would follow in his
footsteps. When his father died, he actually inherited his positions although he was only six years
old! Before he could take them on as an adult, however, he went to hear a performance of Verdi’s
Aida. From that moment on he knew that what he wanted to do was compose operas.

It took a while for Puccini to achieve this goal, but eventually his works became successful. He
was eventually regarded as the successor to the great Verdi. In 1896 he wrote La Bohème, which
is one of the most loved operas ever written. This was followed by several others, including
Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Turandot and The Girl of the Golden West.
Puccini’s genius lay in his ability to write beautiful melodies. He also was able to create operas
that audiences responded to. His characters are very human and the stories in his operas are easy
to follow.
Puccini was very successful financially as well as musically. When he died in 1924, he left over
four million dollars!

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Madame Butterfly is based on a real historical event and began its fictional journey as a story in 1898.
This story is about a geisha who was abandoned by an American naval officer appeared in the magazine
The Century by John Luther John. The American playwright, David Belasco, in collaboration with Long,
then adapted the story into a play.

The play premiered on 5 March 1900 in New York. Performed in only fourteen minutes, the play contained
spectacular lighting effects and was very well received. Seven weeks later, the play was brought to London
with similar success. One member of the audience at the Duke of York Theatre in the summer of 1900 was
Puccini. The play must have enthralled Puccini as he spoke no English but ‘smelt an opera in it’ (Forman,
1994, p.397)

The premiere of Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly took place at La Scala, Milan, Italy, on the 17 February
1904 with the renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini conducting. The opening night however was not a
success. The audience reacted noisily, which made it difficult for the performers to hear each other.
Puccini realized that alterations had to be made for the opera to work and set about these changes.

Three months later, the new version was performed on 28 May at Brescia, Italy. With a few minor revisions
the 5th version, finished in 1907, became the established known score of Madame Butterfly and Puccini
and the production became a great success.

The opera takes place in a house overlooking Nagasaki between 1889 and 1892, just before the outbreak
of the Sino-Japanese war.

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 Setting: A house in Nagasaki, between 1889 - 1892

Act I

▪ American Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin

Pinkerton is stationed in Nagasaki. He contracts Act II part I
to ‘marry’ Madame Butterfly – to help while
away the time. (Three years later, Butterfly has bore Pinkerton a
▪ Pinkerton brags of the ease and convenience of child).
the ‘marriage’ stating that he intends to find a ▪ Butterfly eagerly awaits the return of
‘real’ wife when back in America. Pinkerton.
▪ The American Consul Sharpless warns him to be ▪ Her faithful maid Suzuki believes he will
careful of his ‘bride’s’ feelings. never return.
▪ During the ceremony Butterfly renounces her ▪ Pinkerton returns to duty in Nagasaki, with
religion as a Buddhist and intends to convert to his American wife, Kate.
Christianity. ▪ Sharpless is sent ahead to break the news
▪ Her Uncle, a Buddhist priest curses her for that Pinkerton has arrived together with his
renouncing her religion. American wife Kate
▪ Pinkerton sends wedding guests away and
spends the night comforting Butterfly. Act II part II

▪ Suzuki greets Pinkerton, Kate and Sharpless.

▪ Kate insists on adopting the child.
▪ Pinkerton cannot face Butterfly and asks
Sharpless to pay her off.
▪ Butterfly refuses the money and says that
Pinkerton can return in half an hour for
their child.
▪ Butterfly says farewell to her little boy and
commits suicide.
▪ Pinkerton returns to collect the child.

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The word geisha literally means 'person of the arts' - indeed the earliest geisha were men - and
it is as performers of dance, music and poetry that they actually spend most of their working
time.
Geisha have their roots in female
entertainers such as the Saburuko of the
7th century and the Shirabyoshi, who
emerged around the early 13th century.
They would perform for the nobility and
some even became concubines to the
emperor. It was in the late 16th century
that the first walled-in pleasure quarters
were built in Japan. Like so many aspects
of Japanese culture, they were modelled
after those of Ming Dynasty China.
With Japan enjoying a long-awaited period
of peace following centuries of civil war,
many samurai found that society no longer
had such need of their services. It's
thought that many daughters of these
formerly noble families became courtesans, with the result that quarters such as Yoshiwara and
Shimabara were places of refinement and culture. Peace also brought an increase in prosperity
and the rise of the merchant class, or chonin. Add that to the presence of artists and an
atmosphere free of the strictures of the outside world, and it truly was something of an adult
amusement park, with culture thrown in for good measure. Female geisha became very popular
in the 18th century allowing them to flourish as artists and entertainers, and became regarded as
fashion leaders.
But many aspects of the lifestyle itself were less glamorous. Young girls were sold into the geisha
life by their families until the mid-20th century and were often subject to rituals, such as selling
the young girls to the highest bidder. These practices were eradicated after World War II and the
geisha profession went into a steady decline.

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The Japanese kimono is one of the world's instantly recognizable traditional garments. The word
kimono literally means "clothing", and up until the mid-19th century it was the form of dress
worn by everyone in Japan. That began to change slowly with the import of suits dresses and
other western fashions.
Thanks to the popularity of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in
the West at the beginning of the last century, the kimono-
clad maiden became one of the quintessential images of
Japan. Dressing up in the kimono and other
accoutrements of the geisha or maiko is still one of the
more popular activities for visiting tourists.
There are different types of kimono for different
occasions and seasons, including those worn by men.
Other than those worn daily by some older people or
performers of traditional arts, kimono are a much less
common sight these days but are still widely worn on
special occasions such as weddings and graduation
ceremonies.
Part of the reason is the cost, as a decent silk kimono will
set you back the best part of a million yen. But there is
also the question of how to put on the kimono and tie the obi (decorative sash), a complicated
procedure that is beyond the ability of many young women. They usually have to ask their
mothers to help them or take course at a kimono school.

http://www.wikihow.com/Dress-in-a-Kimono

Related Literature
Memoirs of a Geisha - Novel by Aurthur Golden - (1997)
- Film adaptation of the novel (2005)
Memoirs of a Geisha tells the story of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, who is sold by her
impoverished family to a geisha house called an okiya. Chiyo is eventually transformed into a
geisha and renamed "Sayuri", and becomes one of the most celebrated geisha of her time. But
with this success, Sayuri also learns the secrets and sacrifices of the geisha lifestyle.

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Puccini researched Japanese music and culture before writing the opera. The orchestra includes
bells, gongs and the high woodwind instruments that are prominent mirroring traditional
Japanese temple music. Below is a brief look at some of the most commonly heard Japanese
instruments:

There are many large Japanese drums, or

taiko. Most have two membranes which are
nailed or laced and are struck with sticks. The
most dramatic is the Odaiko (big drum). The
physical energy and sheer excitement of an
Odaiko performance is an integral part of
many Japanese matsuri (festivals).
The hourglass-shaped tsuzumi was introduced
from the Asian continent around the 7th
century and the name is derived from Sanskrit.
Two varieties, the smaller kotsuzumi and the
larger otsuzumi are used in both noh and
kabuki performances, which are the
traditional Japanese theatrical art forms. The kotsuzumi is held on the right shoulder and the
player alters the tone by squeezing the laces. The otsuzumi is held on the left thigh. Like all other
traditional arts in Japan, there are several schools of tsuzumi.

The most famous flute is the shakuhachi bamboo flute. It has 4 or 5

finger holes on the front face and a thumb hole on the rear face. As
with other instruments above, it was imported from China for gagaku.
In medieval times, the shakuhachi became associated with wandering
Buddhist priests known as komuso or 'priests of nothingness'. They
played the shakuhachi as a spritual discipline and during the Edo Period
they had the exclusive license to play the instrument. They are easily
recognized by their straw inverted basket-like headgear.

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(As mentioned earlier, the opera Madame Butterfly takes place in Nagasaki between 1889 and 1892, just
before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war.)

The First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) was Japan's first overseas war after she came out of
isolation in the 1860s. It was a conflict between China and Japan for control of Korea.

The Li-Ito Convention of 1885 provided for mutual troop withdrawals and advance notification
of any new troop movements into Korea. Accordingly, when a Korean revolt erupted in 1894,
both countries sent troops. However, after the insurrection had been suppressed, Japan refused
to withdraw its troops and induced the Korean court to abrogate its agreement with China. The
fighting that ensued between Chinese and Japanese forces ended with an easy victory for the
more modern Japanese army.

The Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) declared Korea independent and provided for the cession of
Taiwan, the Pescadores, and the Liaodong peninsula by China to Japan. China also had to pay a
large indemnity. Within a week of the treaty signing, however, the diplomatic intervention of
Russia, France, and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China. Under a
subsidiary commercial treaty (1896), China yielded to Japanese nationals the right to open
factories and engage in manufacturing in the trade ports. This right was automatically extended
to the Western maritime powers under the most-favoured-nation clause.

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Teaching ideas - Points for discussion

Exploring Characters
Ask students to read the story board and make basic observations on a character and consider
the following:
• What is the character’s relationship to others?
• What can you assume about the character?
• What physical characteristics suit the character?
• What psychological characteristics does the character portray?
• Why does the character make the choices they do?
• How important are the traditions and rituals to the character?

Exploring the Plot

Encourage the pupils to explore the different twists and turns of the piece and how the clashes
of culture between East and West are portrayed:
• How is Japan portrayed?
• How is America portrayed?
• Why is Japan portrayed as fragile and feminine, against the powerful and masculine American?
• Which aspects of Japanese culture are portrayed?
• Which aspects of America culture are portrayed?
• Are the two countries still portrayed in this manner nowadays?

Exploring ethical issues

Consider the following themes for discussion and encourage the students to expand further in
relation to their current realities
• How important is religion to an individual if they are willing to give it up for a partner?
• A marriage of 2 people who have 2 distinct religious beliefs. Can this work out?

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• Can people from different cultures live happily together within the same community?
• Madame Butterfly decides to take her life towards the end of the opera because she has been
dishonoured – honour over life. Do you think this could still happen today?
• Taking one’s life ……… can there be a situation that one is justified to do so?
• What are your views on arranged marriages?

Exploring the music

• Listen to an orchestral piece and ask pupils to write down the different instruments they can
hear.
• Discuss the different types of instrument families and label the layout of orchestra.
• Listen to a piece from the opera and ask pupils to identify the different voice types and link
them to the characters.
• Watch short excerpts from staged performances of Madame Butterfly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikn1Q1CihyI Behind the scenes from the Met Opera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLtwCaYptdQ Love duet (end of Act 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpJO1PVGA7c Humming Chorus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_FNYH-K880 Un bel di Vedremo

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