*****
The 2025 staging of Madama Butterfly at the Puccini Festival at Torre del Largo offered a strikingly modern reading of Puccini’s tragedy, recast as a meditation on male dominance and the precarious position of women within patriarchal structures.
The Neapolitan soprano Valeria Sepe, drafted in to replace Maria Agresta, proved a revelation. Her Butterfly combined youthful radiance with emotional stamina, and she never lost sight of Puccini’s formidable vocal and dramatic demands. Her lustrous soprano carried easily across the amphitheatre, pure in timbre yet capable of dramatic steel. Un bel dì vedremo was delivered with lyrical grace, her lines floating effortlessly; later, in E questo? Egli potrà pure scordare?, she unleashed vocal power and despair with the authority of a singer at the height of her powers. Sepe’s Butterfly was never merely a victim, she gave her heroine a dignity and presence that made her tragedy all the more devastating.
Valeria Sepe
As Pinkerton, Vincenzo Costanzo was dangerously charming – a golden, solar tenor that projected beauty and ease, allied to a swaggering stage presence. The decision to costume him in a historically correct dark naval uniform rather than the usual white lent a sharper edge to his role. His shirtless seduction of the young Cio-Cio-San underscored the opera’s exploration of desire, domination, and imbalance. She wanted love, he wanted her.
The supporting cast was extremely strong. Luca Micheletti’s Sharpless was dignified, elegantly sung, his frustration at Pinkerton’s behaviour palpable. Chiara Mogini’s Suzuki brought warmth, authority, and a finely judged mezzo to her mistress’s side. Nicola Pamio gave Goro every ounce of repellent energy, while Manuel Pierattelli offered an ardent Yamadori. Francesca Paoletti’s Kate Pinkerton emerged as a telling presence in the final scenes, her involvement underscoring the production’s broader critique of female subordination.
On the podium, Francesco Ivan Ciampi, replacing Antonino Fogliani, conducted with clarity and sensitivity. He brought out the exotic colours of Puccini’s score without overindulgence, attentive to his singers yet ensuring orchestral detail was never lost in the open-air space.
Valeria Sepe
Visually and dramatically, the production bore the conceptual stamp of Manu Lalli, who directed, designed, and costumed. Lalli eschewed traditional realism, preferring stylised sets and choreography to evoke Japan. A vast torii gate dominated Act I before being removed, the stage transforming into a bleak wintry landscape as Butterfly waited in vain. The absence of a house made some textual references awkward and robbed the famous “humming chorus” of its usual charm – Butterfly, Suzuki, and her child were instead placed centre stage, with the chorus hovering behind, rather than pokignholes through the paper sliding doors. But Lalli compensated with powerful visual storytelling: Cio-Cio-San’s burnt fingers as she tried to light Sharpless’s cigarette; Suzuki crumpling origami boats in disgust at Pinkerton’s betrayal.
Vincenzo Costanzo and Luca Micheletti
The director’s most controversial intervention came towards that dreadful conclusion. Pinkerton reappeared, bouquet in hand, at first passionate but then seemingly watching coldly as Butterfly prepared for suicide – a tableau suggesting her death was not tragedy but possibly inevitability in his eyes. Also, an interesting interpretation was the final piece of female choreography Kate Pinkerton joined the Japanese women, which implied that even the supposedly liberated American wife was caught in the same web of male domination.
Chiara Mogini and Valeria Sepe
Such choices will not please purists. Yet Lalli’s production remained emotionally gripping, shifting attention from a single doomed heroine to a broader critique of male irresponsibility and cultural dissonance. That the audience left both moved and unsettled is testament to the achievement.
The Puccini Festival continues until 6 September, with performances of Tosca, Manon Lescaut, La Bohème, Suor Angelica, and concerts by the lakeside. With its iconic open-air theatre framed by Lake Massaciuccoli, it remains one of the most distinctive destinations in the summer operatic calendar.
Main image: Vincenzo Costanzo and Valeria Sepe
For more details on the full programme and tickets:
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Also, at Puccini Festival 2025:
