Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 9 - Madama Butterfly

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 6 From the Chair and the General Director Puccini’s Madama Butterfly bombed at its La Scala premiere in February 1904. That’s hard to believe now, but after several revisions, the opera took its rightful place as one of the most beloved works in the repertoire. Even a work this renowned not only requires, but also deserves, a fresh perspective. Lyric’s own Chief Artistic Officer, Matthew Ozawa, an internationally acclaimed director, is the creative force behind this new-to-Chicago Butterfly , a production that combines the beauty of tradition while offering greater empathy for both Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly) and even for Pinkerton, the brash American naval officer who cruelly abandons her. Ozawa teamed up with an all-female Japanese creative team to redesign and re-imagine the work, and the resulting production provides a fresh new framing for this classic opera. As Butterfly we are pleased to have soprano Karah Son, acclaimed in the role in dozens of leading houses worldwide. Her combination of power and great sensitivity has led her also to Mimì in La Bohème , Liù in Turandot , the title role in Tosca , and Desdemona in Otello . She joins a long line of distinguished Cio-Cio-Sans in Lyric’s history, including Renata Scotto, Leontyne Price, and, at the opera’s first run here at Lyric in 1955, Maria Callas. This run of Madama Butterfly closes just before the final events of our 2025/26 Season: the world premiere of avery r. young’s safronia on April 17 (a revelatory funk-soul-gospel opera not to be missed); our annual open house, Explore Your Lyric , on April 26; and the spring tour of this year’s Opera in the Neighborhoods title, Katie, Strongest of the Strong , which ends on May 3. As we near the end of another great run here at the Lyric Opera House and around Chicago, we celebrate the enduring strength of our art form, Lyric’s artistic and financial good health, and you, the audiences that make everything we do possible. We’re delighted you’re with us for this performance. Enjoy! JOHN MANGUM General Director, President & CEO, The Women’s Board Endowed Chair SYLVIA NEIL Chair of the Board Welcome to Lyric Opera of Chicago! Kyle Flubacker