Opera guides
Madama Butterfly: synopsis, roles, arias and diction notes
Puccini's Madama Butterfly in one page: librettists, 1904 premiere, voice types, act-by-act synopsis, the famous arias and Italian diction notes.
Diction Desk editors · Checked 19 October 2026 against 4 sources
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts, originally two, by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa1. The original two-act version premiered on 17 February 1904 at La Scala in Milan1. Its Act 2 aria is Butterfly's Un bel dì, vedremo1.
- Composer
- Giacomo Puccini1
- Librettists
- Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa1
- Premiere
- 17 February 1904, La Scala, Milan1
- Language
- Italian1
- Acts
- 3, originally 21
Contents
Madama Butterfly is the sixth most performed opera in the world1. This page gives the facts to check before you open the score, one of the guides in the operas section.
At a glance
Puccini wrote the opera with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa1. Giacosa (1847 to 1906) was a poet, playwright and librettist3. Illica (1857 to 1919) was a librettist who wrote for Puccini4. The source is John Luther Long’s 1898 story Madame Butterfly and Pierre Loti’s 1887 novel Madame Chrysanthème1. Long’s story was dramatized by David Belasco as the one-act play Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan1.
The opera is in three acts, originally two1. It is set in Nagasaki1.
Who’s who
| Role | Voice type | Notes | Premiere singer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly) | Soprano | A 15-year-old Japanese girl1 | Rosina Storchio1 |
| Pinkerton | Tenor | A U.S. naval officer1 | |
| Suzuki | Mezzo-soprano | Her maid1 | Giuseppina Giaconia1 |
| Sharpless | Baritone | U.S. consul at Nagasaki1 | Giuseppe De Luca1 |
| Goro | Tenor | A matchmaker1 | Gaetano Pini-Corsi1 |
| Prince Yamadori | Baritone | Emilio Venturini1 | |
| The Bonze | Bass | Cio-Cio-San’s uncle1 | Paolo Wulman1 |
| Kate Pinkerton | Mezzo-soprano | Pinkerton’s American wife1 | Margherita Manfredi1 |
| Dolore | Silent | Cio-Cio-San’s son1 | Ersilia Ghissoni1 |
Puccini’s orchestration has been praised as limpid, fluent and refined1. It includes three flutes, the third doubling piccolo1.
Synopsis
Act 1
In 1904, a U.S. naval officer named Pinkerton rents a house on a hill in Nagasaki, Japan, for himself and his soon-to-be wife1. She is a 15-year-old Japanese girl whom he is marrying for convenience, since Japanese divorce laws are very lenient1. Butterfly had been so excited to marry an American that she had earlier secretly converted from Buddhism to Christianity1. Her uninvited uncle, a bonze, has found out about the conversion; he comes to the house, curses her and orders all the guests to leave1.
Act 2
Three years later, Butterfly is still waiting for him to return1. Goro, the marriage broker who arranged her marriage, keeps trying to marry her off again1. She gave birth to Pinkerton’s son after he had left1. Sharpless comes to the house with a letter from Pinkerton, but he cannot bring himself to finish it1. Suzuki and the child fall asleep, but Butterfly stays up all night waiting for him to arrive1. The original two-act version put all of this in one very long second act1.
Act 3
Puccini revised the opera, splitting the second act in two, with the Chorus with closed mouths as a bridge to what became Act III1. Pinkerton returns with his new American wife, Kate, who has agreed to raise the child1. As Pinkerton sees how Butterfly has decorated the house for his return, he realizes he has made a huge mistake1. He admits that he is a coward and cannot face her1. Butterfly agrees to give up her child if Pinkerton comes himself to see her1. She places a small American flag in his hands and goes behind a screen, stabbing herself with her father’s tantō1. Pinkerton rushes in, but he is too late, and Butterfly dies1.
The famous arias
| Aria (first line) | Role | Act | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dovunque al mondo | Pinkerton | 1 | “All over the globe”1 |
| Ancora un passo | Cio-Cio-San | 1 | “Another step”1 |
| Vieni, amor mio! | Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton | 1 | “Come, my beloved!”1 |
| Un bel dì, vedremo | Cio-Cio-San | 2 | “On some bright day we will see”1 |
| Coro a bocca chiusa | Chorus | between 2 and 3 | “Chorus with closed mouths”1 |
| Tu? Tu? Piccolo iddio! | Cio-Cio-San | 3 | “You? You? Little divinity!”1 |
| Addio, fiorito asil | Pinkerton | 3 | “Goodbye, flower-covered haven”1 |
| Con onor muore | Cio-Cio-San | 3 | “One dies with honor”1 |
Lines to study
| Original | Our translation |
|---|---|
| Un bel dì, vedremo1 | On some bright day we will see |
| Dovunque al mondo1 | All over the globe |
| Addio, fiorito asil1 | Goodbye, flower-covered haven |
| Ancora un passo1 | Another step |
Both librettists died long ago, Giacosa in 1906 and Illica in 19193,4. Learn each line as speech first, then add the pitch.
Language and diction notes
The libretto is Italian, so the rules in Italian diction for singers apply to every number.
The title is Madama Butterfly, with the Italian form Madama. Long’s story is called Madame Butterfly1.
Premiere, versions and performance history
The original version, in two acts, had its premiere on 17 February 1904 at La Scala in Milan1. It was poorly received, despite having such notable singers as soprano Rosina Storchio1. It was one of the most terrible flops in the history of Italian opera1. The premiere was beset by several bad staging decisions, including the lack of an intermission during the second act1. Late completion by Puccini gave inadequate time for rehearsals1.
Success ensued, starting with the first performance on 28 May 1904 in Brescia1. The first performance in Britain was in London on 10 July 1905 at the Royal Opera House1. The first US performance was presented in English on 15 October 19061. A Metropolitan Opera cast had Geraldine Farrar as Cio-Cio-San, Enrico Caruso as Pinkerton, Louise Homer as Suzuki and Antonio Scotti as Sharpless1. Madama Butterfly has since been heard virtually every season at the Met except for a hiatus during World War II from 1942 through 19451.
Puccini wrote five versions of the opera1. The original two-act version (SC 74.A) was withdrawn after the disastrous premiere1. A third version (SC 74.C) was performed at the Metropolitan Opera on 11 February 19071. The fifth version (SC 74.E) has become known as the Standard Version and is the one most often performed today1. It opened La Scala’s 2016-17 season on 7 December 2016, with Riccardo Chailly conducting1. Japan’s best-known opera singer, Tamaki Miura, won international fame for her performances as Cio-Cio-San1.
Where to go next
Two more Puccini operas to study next are La bohème and Tosca. Giacosa wrote the librettos for La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly together with Illica3.
