From the Director: A Note from Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello shares her reflections about her time directing The Gershwins®’ Porgy and Bess.
Francesca Zambello shares her reflections about her time directing The Gershwins®’ Porgy and Bess.
It is an incredible honor to direct Puccini’s Madame Butterfly as my debut as Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Bringing this beloved masterpiece to life offers a profound opportunity to explore its breathtaking music, emotional depth, and complex cultural legacy. Yet, for all its beauty and sincerity, Madame Butterfly is not without controversy. Over time, … Read more
In Madama Butterfly, Puccini, already celebrated for La bohème and Tosca, achieved something even more refined: long, seamless arcs of sound where voice and orchestra fuse into a single emotional current. Famous for his search for a piece’s sonic color or tinta, Puccini studied Japanese melodies and sonorities, weaving them into his late-Romantic language with … Read more
An anonymous reviewer in 1820 compared the enthusiasm for Rossini to a contagion: “No matter how many times we have been forced to hear these masterpieces, feeling the greatest unwillingness in the world, we were never able to leave the theatre without feeling inflamed with this delicious sentiment that secretly takes possession of the heart.” … Read more