Challenges in performing Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly

Abstract

Challenges in performing Puccini`s Madame Butterfly” is a master thesis that will examine this opera through the vocal and performance aspects. This master thesis is written by Jelena Markovic, student of Agder University Conservatory of Music, Kristiansand, Norway, and consists of 44 pages. It is divided in seven sections. The first section will introduce her methods and aims. The second section is the research process and sources used to compile the research. The third section details about Giacomo Puccini`s life and the period during which he wrote his opera “Madame Butterfly”, using information from books written by Mosco Carner and Stanley Sadie. It provides a short synopsis of “Madame Butterfly” based on the book written by Mosco Carner. The fourth section explores the central issue of this master thesis, seen from my own experience and also gives a short analysis of the notational text of “Madame Butterfly”. I have tried to present some of the vocal and technical problems connected with singing the Madame Butterfly role. For the technical issues of the role, I used two books; one written by Biserka and Dusan Cvejic and second written by Lilli Lehman. The fifth section presents my conclusion.