2017-2018 Met Opera Season Premiere of Madama Butterfly Is Nov. 2

Summary: The 2017-2018 Met Opera season premiere of Madama Butterfly is Thursday, Nov. 2, during the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s sixth week.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season premiere of Puccini's Madama Butterfly revives Anthony Minghella's staging, which debuted Sept. 25, 2006, at Met Opera as a new production: BBC Radio 4 @BBCRadio4, via Twitter April 7, 2016

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season premiere of Madama Butterfly is Thursday, Nov. 2. The 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s sixth week also includes two performances each of Adès’s The Exterminating Angel and Puccini’s La Bohème and Turandot.

The Metropolitan Opera’s season premiere of Madama Butterfly by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924) takes place Thursday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). Puccini’s opera about a young Japanese geisha’s tragic realization of love’s impermanence has a total of 12 performances over three months of November, February and March.

Six performances, including the season premiere, take place in November. The month’s five additional performances are scheduled for Monday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time); Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

February’s performances take place Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m.

March’s performances are scheduled for Saturday, March 3, at 1 p.m.; Thursday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time); Friday, March 16, at 8 p.m.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season revives staging directed by Anthony Minghella (Jan. 6, 1954-March 18, 2008). The British film director, playwright and screenwriter’s new production debuted Monday, Sept. 25, 2006, at the Metropolitan Opera.

The season’s staging of Met Opera’s seventh most performed opera is headed by Anthony Minghella’s widow, Carolyn Choa, as director and choreographer. The production team comprises Michael Levine, set designer; Han Feng, costume designer; Peter Mumford, lighting designer. London’s Blind Summit Theatre is responsible for the opera’s puppetry.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s sixth week begins at the end of October and transitions to the beginning of November. The divided week frames Madama Butterfly’s season premiere with two performances each of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel and two Puccini operas.

The week begins Monday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) with Adès’s surrealistic opera. A second performance takes place Friday, Nov. 3, at 8 p.m.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s debut of Adès’s third opera marks The Exterminating Angel’s American premiere. The Metropolitan Opera’s first performance of The Exterminating Angel happened Thursday, Oct. 26.

The divided week’s second opera is Turandot. Puccini’s last, unfinished opera is performed Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m. The week’s second performance takes place Saturday, Nov. 4, at 1 p.m.

Turandot’s 2017-2018 Met Opera season premiere took place Thursday, Oct. 12. Turandot appears as the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s fifth season premiere. As of Oct. 31, 2016, Turandot ranks as the Metropolitan Opera’s 25th most performed opera.

The divided week’s third opera is another Puccini opera, La Bohème. The poignant opera about struggling artists in Paris is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m. A second performance, taking place Saturday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m., closes the divided week’s schedule of four operas.

La Bohème’s season premiere for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season took place Monday, Oct. 2. The Metropolitan Opera’s most performed opera appears as the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s fourth season premiere.

The takeaways for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season are that the season premiere of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is Thursday, Nov. 2, and that the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s sixth week also offers two performances each of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel and of two additional Puccini operas, La Bohème and Turandot.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season's performances of Puccini's Madama Butterfly revive Anthony Minghella's staging, with choreography by Carolyn Choa, costumes by Han Feng and lighting by Peter Mumford: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 15, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season premiere of Puccini's Madama Butterfly revives Anthony Minghella's staging, which debuted Sept. 25, 2006, at Met Opera as a new production: BBC Radio 4 @BBCRadio4, via Twitter April 7, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/BBCRadio4/status/718198706386952192

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season's performances of Puccini's Madama Butterfly revive Anthony Minghella's staging, with choreography by Carolyn Choa, costumes by Han Feng and lighting by Peter Mumford: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 15, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10158357868585533.1073741928.20807115532/10158357949290533/

For further information:

ArtisanNewsService. “Anthony Minghella Directs Madam Butterfly at The Met.” YouTube. May 3, 2007.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sb244Mt2hc

BBC Radio 4 @BBCRadio4. “Lose Yourself in Anthony Minghella’s Vintage Madama Butterfly From the Met.” Twitter. April 7, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/BBCRadio4/status/718198706386952192

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017 Met Opera Premiere of Adès’s The Exterminating Angel Is Oct. 26.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct. 16, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/2017-met-opera-premiere-of-adess.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017-2018 Met Opera Season Premiere of La Bohème Is Monday, Oct. 2.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 25, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-2018-met-opera-season-premiere-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017-2018 Met Opera Season Premiere of Turandot Is Thursday, Oct. 12.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct. 2, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/2017-2018-met-opera-season-premiere-of.html

The Metropolitan Opera. “On Stage 2017-18.” The Metropolitan Opera > Season.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Season/2017-18-Season/

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Puccini’s Madama Butterfly November 2–March 16 bit.ly/2kxRGG6." Facebook. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10158357868585533.1073741928.20807115532/10158357949290533/

“New Production: Madama Butterfly." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351555 Madama Butterfly {799} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/25/2006.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=266920

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database: The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml