This was due in part to a late completion by Puccini, which gave inadequate time for rehearsals. Puccini revised the opera, splitting the second act in two, with the Humming Chorus as a bridge.

This was due in part to a late completion by Puccini, which gave inadequate time for rehearsals. Puccini revised the opera, splitting the second act in two, with the Humming Chorus as a bridge to what became Act III.

US Navy Lieutenant Pinkerton is stationed in Nagasaki, Japan. He has paid for an arranged marriage with a fifteen-year-old geisha, Cio-Cio-San, known as Madam Butterfly. As the action begins, Pinkerton is with Goro the marriage-broker. A few minutes before the wedding is to take place, the US consul Sharpless arrives. He tells Pinkerton that he is convinced Butterfly is deeply in love. He fears that Pinkerton will destroy her as he does not take the marriage seriously, but regards it merely as a convenience. Pinkerton dismisses his fears but affirms he waits a ’genuine’ marriage to an American woman.

US Navy Lieutenant Pinkerton is stationed in Nagasaki, Japan. He has paid for an arranged marriage with a fifteen-year-old geisha, Cio-Cio-San, known as Madam Butterfly. As the action begins, Pinkerton is with Goro the marriage-broker. A few minutes before the wedding is to take place, the US consul Sharpless arrives. He tells Pinkerton that he is convinced Butterfly is deeply in love. He fears that Pinkerton will destroy her as he does not take the marriage seriously, but regards it merely as a convenience. Pinkerton dismisses his fears but affirms that he waits for the day he will make a ’genuine’ marriage to an American woman.