Italian conductor Roberto Fiore will be music director and conductor for the premiere of the concert version of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly, held in HCM City on September 11 and 12. — Photo courtesy of HBSO

HCM CITY — The concert version of the opera Madama Butterfly, composed by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini to a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, will premiere at the Saigon Opera House on September 11 and 12.

The project is a collaboration between the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) and the Consulate General of Italy in HCM City to celebrate the troupe's 33rd anniversary.

Acclaimed Italian artists, conductor Roberto Fiore and tenor Marco Miglietta, and HBSO artists will stage a concert version of the opera in two acts (three parts), focusing on vocal power and original dramatic structure.

Set in the early 20th century, Madama Butterfly tells the tragic love story of Cio-Cio San, a young Japanese girl who devotes her heart and unwavering faith to the American naval officer Pinkerton.

Fiore, the project’s music director, said that after his first collaboration with HBSO in 2019, the conductor and the troupe wanted to challenge themselves and do a bigger project.

He said Puccini’s Madama Butterfly had an engaging story like a movie that people could share and feel, adding that the concert version allowed them to perform the opera in its entirety, from beginning to end.

Fiore studied orchestral conducting at the Conservatory of Music "O. Respighi" in Latina, and experimental composition at the Conservatory of Music "Santa Cecilia" in Rome. He earned a master’s in music for Film from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome.

He has collaborated with renowned orchestras worldwide, including the Milan Symphony Orchestra, the Nuova Cameristica Chamber Orchestra of Milan, and the Orchestra of Koszalin and the Rybnik Youth Symphony Orchestra of Poland.

Since 2016, Fiore has been based in China, where he serves as the Founder and Music Director of the Shanghai Nova Sinfonietta and Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Nantong University International Symphony Orchestra.

Soprano Phạm Khánh Ngọc and Italian tenor Marco Miglietta will feature Cio-Cio San and Pinkerton in the performance. — Photo courtesy of HBSO

The performance will feature HBSO coloratura soprano Phạm Khánh Ngọc as Cio-Cio San and tenor Miglietta as Pinkerton, together with soloists such as Đào Mác, Phan Hồng Dịu, and Phạm Trang.

Ngọc emphasised that it was the first time she had tried Puccini’s opera. “It’s stepping out of my comfort zone.”

She said: “Portraying a young girl aged 15-18 is a pressure and the biggest challenge in my career.”

Ngọc holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from the HCM City Conservatory of Music, followed by advanced opera studies at Musiktheater im Revier in Germany.

She has performed at renowned global venues such as Esplanade in Singapore, Wiener Konzerthaus in Austria, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the US, during high-level state delegation visits.

Miglietta began his artistic career by graduating from the "R. Franci" Institute in Siena. He has played in numerous operas, such as Tosca by Puccini, Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi, and Lucia di Lammermoor (The Bride of Lammermoor) by Gaetano Donizetti.

The tenor has also performed as a soloist under the baton of Maestro Donato Renzetti and Maestro Daniel Oren.

The performance will also include the HBSO Choir and Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Fiore.

HBSO Director Lê Ha My said the troupe plans to present the full stage version of Madama next year as part of its biennial Autumn Melodies Arts Festival, an extravaganza of chamber music, opera, and dance. 

Two nights of the concert version of Madama Butterfly will begin at 8pm at 7 Lam Sơn Square in Sài Gòn Ward. The show will include Vietnamese and English subtitles. — VNS