Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly – the composer’s self-proclaimed favourite work and certainly one of the most beloved operas in the repertoire – is brought to life at the world-famous Arena di Verona. This opulent production, directed by respected film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli, is sung by a cast of excellent singers. Fiorenza Cedolins is a sought after Butterfly singer and her Pinkerton is performed by the renowned tenor Marcello Giordani. The celebrated operatic baritone Juan Pons gives the principled United States consul Sharpless. The performance is led by long-established Arena di Verona conductor Daniel Oren with all the splendour that a Puccini opera demands. The sum of all this is a gloriously sung musical experience.

Cast:
- Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly): Fiorenza Cedolins
- Suzuki: Francesca Franci
- Kate Pinkerton: Mina Blum
- Pinkerton: Marcello Giordani
- Sharpless: Juan Pons

Stage director: Franco Zeffirelli

Live from the Arena di Verona, 2004

Legendary Performances
From one of the world’s most extensive catalogues of audio-visual productions, Arthaus Musik again has chosen 10 exemplary recordings from the greatest opera houses. This third journey through the world of opera features classics
by Mozart, Gluck, Weber, Puccini and Rossini, as well as Janáček’s, Berg’s and Poulenc’s more recent operatic strokes of genius, performed by singers like Peter Schreier, Ileana Cotrubaș, Franz Grundheber, Edita Gruberová, Peter Seiffert, Inga Nielsen, Marilyn Horne or Malin Hartelius; and last but not least virtuously conducted by international stars like Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Fabio Biondi, Sir Charles Mackerras or Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Legendary Performances impressively demonstrate how diverse, imposing, and especially how alluring and delightful the world of opera is.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1
Picture Format: 16:9
Original Language: IT
Subtitles: IT, GB, DE, FR, ES, ZH
Running Time: 142 mins
DVD 9 / NTSC
FSK: 0
Region Code: 0