New York City Opera tenor Michael Hendrick will make his Syracuse debut as Lt. B.F. Pinkerton

Byline: RICHARD McKEE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Feb. 14, 1904, was a highly anticipated date in the world of Italian opera.

The reigning composer of the time, Giacomo Puccini, was to premiere his newest opera, “Madama Butterfly.” The opera was based on an American play by David Belasco (after whom one of our Broadway theaters is named), which in itself was based on a short story by the American writer, John Luther Long.

It had been four years since the premiere of Puccini’s last opera, “Tosca,” which was a resounding success. Following as it did the successes of “Manon Lescaut” and “La Boheme,” “Tosca” clearly established Puccini as the heir to Giuseppe Verdi as Italy’s leading operatic composer.

And “Madama Butterfly” has become one of the biggest hits in the repertoire. For several years, it has been the most performed full-length opera in companies in the United States. That it has less than a full chorus, can be played on a single set and has only four leading roles (and the leading tenor doesn’t appear in Act 2 and only returns toward the end of the last act) may have something to do with its popularity among presenting impresarios.

A truly sympathetic heroine and a beautiful musical score don’t hurt. Audiences always seem to love “Butterfly.”

And yet, as the Pirate King says in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance,” “Here We Are Again.”

“Madama Butterfly” was a total flop at its first performance in Milan’s La Scala Opera House on that February night more than 100 years ago.

Like the recently produced (in Syracuse) “The Barber of Seville,” like last year’s “La Traviata,” like “Carmen,” and like many others, “Madama Butterfly” failed to please at its first performance and then went on to become one of the all-time operatic hits.

There are several reasons for this in “Butterfly,” but only a few of them have to do with the music. Puccini withdrew the opera after the opening night and returned his advance fees to La Scala. He made some changes – mostly to the last act – and offered a second “premiere” in the town of Brescia about six months after the La Scala disaster.

The opera was a hit.

Subsequently, he made a few more small changes and gave us the score as it is known and loved today.

The extra-musical scene in Italy in 1904 probably had more to do with the opera’s initial failure than any innate musical shortcomings.

Italians take their opera seriously, never more so than in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Puccini’s earlier successes may have stirred as much jealousy and resentment as admiration. He was not an easy man to like and had certainly made enemies in the worlds of society and music at the turn of the century.

But there is no denying the undying popularity of the opera. Puccini wrote almost all his operas based on the lives of sympathetic and lovable heroines, and “Madama Butterfly” is certainly in that mold. Most of his operas are named after their leading lady, and those leading ladies always engage our deepest emotions.

He was also a master of melodrama, and as much as we realize that his beautiful music is manipulating us, he does so in a way that speaks to our hearts.

There is one other factor, I believe, that makes us love Madame Butterfly – both the character and the opera named for her – so much. That is the element of character development.

Most of Puccini’s heroines, for all their appeal, are the same person at the end of the opera that they were at the beginning. They have gone through much, but they have not become “new” people. This is not the case with Cio-Cio-San (Madame Butterfly). After all her innocence and gullibility concerning her faithless American lover, in the end she chooses the path of ultimate self-sacrifice. Like her father before her, she chooses “death with honor, rather than life with dishonor.”

And with the powerful, beautiful and expressive music by Puccini, she makes us weep with admiration and love.

For our Syracuse production, we have engaged a cast of fine singing actors to bring this tale to life. Soprano Jee Hyun Lim will sing Cio-Cio-San, the role of her recent New York City Opera debut (to a standing ovation, no less). Her companion Suzuki will be sung by mezzo-soprano Sahoko Sato. The role of Goro, the marriage broker, will be sung by tenor Joseph Hu.

It is our hope that these experienced Asian artists will lend an extra element of depth and authenticity to our production. New York City Opera tenor Michael Hendrick will make his Syracuse debut as Lt. B.F. Pinkerton, and we welcome back baritone Timothy LeFebvre in the role of the American consul in Japan, Sharpless.

The production will be directed by David McCarty, and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and Syracuse Opera Chorus will be led by Daniel Hege, who conducted last season’s “La Traviata.”

Also note the many Central New York artists in supporting roles, including chorus master Nancy B. Head, who will do double duty by singing the role of Kate Pinkerton, the American wife of our “hero.”

Join us to experience the thrill and pathos of Puccini’s heartfelt opera. Join us, but bring a handkerchief.

Richard McKee is artistic director of Syracuse Opera.

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Dick Blume/The Post Standard

MICHAEL HENDRICK as Lt. Pinkerton and Jee Hyun Lim as Butterfly star in Syracuse Opera’s production of “Madama Butterfly.” Color

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