Lot #734

Giacomo Puccini Autograph Letter Signed on Madame Butterfly: "It is the first opera ever performed in Japanese costumes at the Opera Comique"

Description

Puccini writes on the Paris debut of Madama Butterfly: "It is the first opera ever performed in Japanese costumes at the Opera Comique"

ALS in Italian, signed “G. Puccini,” one page both sides, 5 x 3.5, Hotel Westminster, Paris letterhead, September 13, 1906. Handwritten letter to Aldredo Vandini, in part (translated): "I have made definitive arrangements for Butterfly at the Opera Comique with Madame Carre and tenor Clement, under the baton of Maestro Luigini. The director of the Carre Company will stage it in a special and most original fashion. The opera will open at the end of October. It is the first opera ever performed in Japanese costumes at the Opera Comique." In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, addressed in Puccini's hand.

Puccini's masterpiece Madama Butterfly made its French premiere at the Opéra-Comique on December 28, 1906—the result of a close collaboration between the composer and Albert Carré, director of the famed Paris opera house. In Michele Girardi's introduction to 'Albert Carré’s Staging Manual for Madama Butterfly (1906),' she observes: 'Faithfulness to an 'original' Japanese setting was one of Carré’s objectives; to this end he researched the topic scrupulously, especially with respect to the costumes, and had his wife, Marguerite, who performed in the leading role, study with the famous actress Sada Yakko in order to learn to move and handle the fan like a geisha.'

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts Featuring Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, and Civil War
• Dates: June 21, 2024 - July 10, 2024

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