Written in the beginning of the 20th century by Giacomo Puccini, this is one of the most popular operas and a personal favorite of Puccini. The location of the story being in Japan, the opera tells the story of a teenage geisha, nicknamed "Butterfly", and her ill-fated marriage with an American naval lieutenant. The naval officer is called back in the United States but promises to come back to his wife. In the meantime, as Butterfly gives birth to their son, her husband falls in love with another woman in the other side of the Pacific. A highlight is the passionate soprano solo "Un Bel Di" ("One Fine Day") in which Butterfly, two years after her marriage to the naval officer, awaits his return to Japan. Butterfly sings of an imaginary scene in which a thread of smoke on the horizon signals for her the arrival of her husband's ship to Japan. To her bad luck, her husband returns but with his new American wife.
The music is lyrical and soulful and becomes even more dramatic when thinking about Butterfly's misfortune.