Songs From The Santa Fe Opera Presents: ‘M. Butterfly’
Where: Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Ave.
212-288-6400 Price: Free
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This summer, Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang‘s new opera M. Butterfly was to have its world premiere at the Santa Fe Opera. Last autumn, Asia Society was thrilled to present a sneak preview of this new work as the inaugural event of the Asia Society Triennial. While M. Butterfly has been put on pause due to the pandemic, we are delighted to share a digital celebration of this new opera through Songs from the Santa Fe Opera. The tribute episode to M. Butterfly will premiere on Saturday, August 1.
We invite you to tune in at 9 p.m. New York time to this episode of Songs from the Santa Fe Opera, hosted by tenor Joshua Dennis, who was engaged to sing the role of Marc, and will feature a performance by Kangmin Justin Kim as Song Liling. It will also include an excerpt from Asia Society’s exclusive working rehearsal of M. Butterfly, presented in November 2019, and will conclude with a panel discussion with Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang.
Based on Hwang’s 1988 Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer-Prize finalist Broadway play, M. Butterfly is the story of Rene Gallimard, a French diplomat who carried on a 20-year love affair with Song Liling, a Peking opera star with an astonishing secret that leads to Gallimard’s professional and personal ruin. The story’s many parallels with Puccini’s well-known Madama Butterfly are echoed in the new opera’s music, composed by the celebrated composer Huang Ruo.
Viewers can tune in to the Santa Fe Opera’s Facebook page, YouTube channel, and website to experience exclusive arias from the piece and listen to timely insights from the work’s composer and librettist at 7 p.m. Santa Fe time (9 p.m. New York time).