Brescia’s Teatro Grande sees Madama Butterfly as one of its totems, and it was out of the question not to stage it for the year of Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture, in its so-called ‘Brescia version’, of course. The reasons for this are well-known to all Puccini enthusiasts: in May 1904, three months after the resounding fiasco of its Milanese premiere, the new version of the opera was a great success in Brescia, launching the eternal fortune of this masterpiece. It was about time I conducted my first Butterfly, after hesitating and turning it down on more than one occasion, such is the immense respect and love that I had and have for this score. This time there were no doubts about saying yes to the Teatro Grande and to my city, and here I am, conducting this new production, fruit of an international co-production.

I love the boldness and the unconventional structure in the composition of this opera besides, of course, its moral and social significance. The real attraction for me, however, is its history of’ ‘cuts’, key to understanding Butterfly. We know that, after Brescia, Puccini followed performances of the opera in Genoa and Buenos Aires, and we have reason to presume that he made other cuts there too, as he had done during rehearsals in Brescia, but not necessarily the same cuts. Puccini was still adjusting the score and the stage directions in 1905 at the London Royal Opera House, and the following year in Paris at the Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique. Is there a definitive version of Madama Butterfly, besides that of its premiere? History suggests that there isn’t, offering us instead many authentic variations which show us how Puccini spent almost twenty years seeking his final, conclusive Madama Butterfly: music for our ears and for the sensitivity of today’s performers.

It’s an honour to be conducting the Gala Concert, a tribute by the Teatro Regio to its own memorable inauguration, which took place in 1973 with I Vespri siciliani by Verdi, staged by Maria Callas: the first 50 years in the history of this theatre, long-awaited by the citizens of Turin, and the emblem of an artistic and entrepreneurial vision in a remarkable city that had for so long been living in expectation of the reconstruction of the former Teatro Regio, burnt to the ground in the 1936 fire. The new Teatro Regio, designed by Carlo Mollino and inaugurated on 10th April 1973 to the surprise and delight of the audience of this unique theatre, was the result of a futuristic project that bore testimony to its creator, an eclectic protagonist in the history of Italian architecture and design. The fortunate choice of inaugurating the “spaceship” in 1973 with I Vespri siciliani entrusted to Maria Callas for her first and only experience as stage director, and to the voices of Raina Kabaivanska, Gianni Raimondi and Bonaldo Giaiotti, called for a revival of the emotions of that time. I’m delighted to be conducting another stellar cast today, featuring Roberta Mantegna, Piero Pretti, Vladimir Stoyanov and Michele Pertusi. The Teatro Regio Chorus has been prepared for the first time by Ulisse Trabacchin. This concert performance of the grand-opéra is the Italian version by Arnaldo Fusinato.

I’m returning to the Teatro Regio after conducting last January’s Memorial Concert and, twenty years previously, an opera which is close to my heart, Semiramide. I wish Turin and its Regio all good fortune for the arts