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All of these postcards were featured on a segment of "CBS News Sunday Morning," with
Charles Osgood. |
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MADAMA BUTTERFLY - ROSINA
STORCHIO
It is difficult to imagine
that Madama Butterfly, with its beautiful harmonies and poignant story,
was such an utter disaster that lasted, in its original two-act version, but
one performance (17 Feb 1904). To Puccini's credit, the derisive sounds that
erupted from the La Scala audience could very well have been a debacle
organized by his rivals and/or enemies; nevertheless the opera was withdrawn.
One critic called Madama Butterfly a "diabetic opera, the result of an
automobile accident."
The Butterfly, Rosina
Storchio, who had previously triumphed as Leoncavallo's first Mimi (La
Bohème) and Zazà, was not spared the audience's collective derisive voice.
She was said to have been pregnant with Toscanini's baby at the time of the
performance, which was publicly alluded to by the unmerciful claque. After the
performance a red-eyed Storchio swore she would never sing her Butterfly again
before an Italian audience, a promise she kept for sixteen years, when she
relented for a performance in Rome.
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Puccini went through four
rewrites of Madama Butterfly before it settled into the three-act
version we are familiar with today. This version was presented in Brescia,
Italy with the Russian soprano, Salomea Krusceniski in the title role.
Storchio, accompanied by Toscanini, was already in Buenos Aires fulfilling
singing obligations, including the Argentinean premiere of the revised
Butterfly on 7 Jul 1904, which was a great success.
All of the postcards in the
set (1 - 10) that features Rosina Storchio include a short selection from the
score and accompanying libretto excerpt from the two-act version of the opera. They were published by G. Ricordi and
Company in Milan before the world premiere of the opera. The photography was
done by Varischi, Artico and Company.
Libretto selection on each
postcard:
- Gettiamo a mani piene mammole e tuberose
- Chepersone moleste!
- mi metto la sul ciglio del colle e aspetto
- ogni farfalla da uno sillo e trafitta
- Adesso voi siete per me l'occhio del firmamento
- F.B. Pinkerton. Giu.
- Andate adesso. (first version of libretto)
- Cosa sacra e mia!
- Vostra Grazia permette?
- (ending - Butterfly has just stabbed herself)
MADAMA BUTTERFLY - LEOPOLDO METLICOVITZ
The ten color postcards (11 -
20) were designed by the Italian artist Leopoldo Metlicovitz (see
Metlicovitz - Tosca, Verdi, Madama Butterfly) for the world premiere of Madama
Butterfly. Each one of these postcards has been signed by the first Cio-Cio-San, Rosina Storchio, for the Buenos Aires premiere of the
revised three-act version, 1904.
This set was sold wrapped in
an envelope (21), as were many postcard sets. In many cases the envelopes are
much harder to acquire today than the postcards! The individual cards in the
original set were numbered 209 through 220 (the number was printed on the
address side).
The most notable reproduction of this set
were the postcards produced for the American tour of the English version,
Madame Butterfly by the Henry W. Savage Company. These postcards use the
same images but say "Madam Butterfly" on the front with English text from the
opera. They may also feature a Savage advertisement on the back.
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