The Metropolitan Opera House announces that Puccini’s Madama Butterfly will return to the Met stage for 16 performances, starting January 11. Grammy Award–winning conductor and music director of the New Jersey Symphony Xian Zhang makes her Met debut, leading a cast starring soprano Aleksandra Kurzak as Cio-Cio-San and tenor Matthew Polenzani as Pinkerton, both making their company role debuts.
Joining them are mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, who reprises the role of Suzuki, and baritone Davide Luciano in his Met role debut as Sharpless. Later in the run, soprano Eleonora Buratto stars as Cio-Cio-San for five performances from February 27–March 14.
