Los Angeles first saw Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly presented at the Mason Opera House downtown in 1908 by the English Grand Opera Company. Rumors that LA Opera Artistic Director Placido Domingo portrayed Cio-Cio San’s little boy in that production remain unsubstantiated. Read more »
Standard fare threatened to dominate the final weekend of February at the Met: a routinely-cast revival of Cav & Pag plus two recent productions by the house’s favorite Eyre-head. But then there were also two extraordinary opportunities to indulge in divadienst of the “An(n)a-in-excelsis” genus—Saturday offered another chance, announced only 24 hours earlier, to sample Ana Maria Martinez’s unexpected Butterfly, then Sunday afternoon brought Anna Netrebko’s exceptional, sold-out sui generis all-Russian recital. Read more »
“Ana María Martínez will sing Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on February 27 and March 5, replacing Hei-Kyung Hong, who is ill and has withdrawn from the run of performances,” says the Met’s press department.
UPDATE: It’s official! “Latonia Moore will sing her first Met performance of the role of Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Wednesday, March 2, replacing Hei-Kyung Hong, who is ill,” the Met press desk adds. Read more »
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“The Met turned to Ms. Martínez, whose scant resume with the company until now has included only a handful of performances of Carmen and La Bohème in 2005 and 2015, respectively. Friday night’s triumph may well leave the Met’s management wondering how it let such a gem slip through its fingers.” [Observer] Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.
Ana Maria Martinez’s tremendously impressive Cio-Cio-San dominated the season premiere of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Met.
Cher Public