MADAMA BUTTERFLY - For Further Study (and Enjoyment!) - Books

To contact us Click HERE
There are many, many studies of Puccini's life and work and of BUTTERFLY itself . BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin recommends a few to start off with...
Biography
PUCCINI - A BIOGRAPHYby Mary Jane Phillips-MalzNorthwestern University Press Boston 2002
A personal, opinionated, persuasive, illuminating view of Puccini (by the author of the magisterial biography VERDI) Based on previously unexamined correspondence and interviews, it presents Puccini in the intriguing context of his operatically conceived life - his public triumphs (and failures) and his private failures (and triumphs)
GIACOMO PUCCINI
by Conrad Wilson
Phaidon Press London 1997 (20th Century Composers Series)

Well written and organized overview of both Puccini's controversial and often difficult personality and his still rather controversial place in the ranks of the very greatest opera composers. With many very interesting illustrations

PUCCINI WITHOUT EXCUSES (A REFRESHING REASSESSMENT OF THE WORLD's MOST POPULAR COMPOSER)by William BergerVintage Books 2005
A very frustrating book - often appalingly glib and superficial, often surprising insightful and thought provoking . Take your pick.... maybe browsing through it calmly is the way to go? Or... throwing it across the room in a fit of justified annoyance.
Studies of the operas:
THE COMPLETE OPERAS of PUCCINIby Charles OsborneDa Capo Press 1982
THE OPERAS of PUCCINIby William AshbrookCornell University Press 1968
Both books present detailed essays and a broad survey of all of Puccini's operas (production history, musical analysis, etc) with good chapters on BUTTERFLY
PUCCINI HIS LIFE and WORKSJulian BuddenOxford University Press 2002
The best. In -depth scholarship, narrative pace , brilliant analytical insight, fascinating research ....but only to be expected from the author of the indispensable THE OPERAS OF VERDI
On BUTTERFLYMADAMA BUTTERFLYEnglish National Opera Guides editor: Nichols JohnRiverrun Press NY 1984
Part of the excellent series from the ENO. Historical background and context , japonisme, a study of the extensive "tribulations" that the score went through, the text of the John Luther Long short story (fascinating reading), a musical thematic guide, the libretto in Italian and English....much to savor and ponder
STARCROSSED A BIOGRAPHY of MADAME BUTTERFLY by Brian Burke-GaffneyEastbridge Books Norwalk Ct 2004
If you have time for only one BUTTERFLY read....I'd make it this A compelling study of the opera, its basis in history , the cultural conflicts of East and West, the "legend" of the "real" Butterfly, the role of Nagasaki itself in our Western culture, Japanese performers in the role of Cio-Cio San... etc...all in fascinating detail. Many rarely reproduced photographs.