This production of Madama Butterfly was an extraordinary success for San Francisco Opera in the summer of 2006, selling out nine performances and marking a major triumph for Patricia Racette in the title role. So high was popular demand for tickets that, well after the 2007-08 season had been announced, the company added five performances to its schedule for next month.
Racette returns for three of those dates (Dec. 1, 5 and 8 matinee), alternating with Marie Plette as Cio-Cio-San. Sharing the role of Pinkerton with Valenti will be Richard Tucker Award winner Brandon Jovanovich. Mezzo Zheng Cao, a company stalwart, sings Suzuki, with baritone Stephen Powell as Sharpless. San Francisco Opera music director Donald Runnicles will conduct Racette and Jovanovich, with Julian Smith on the podium for the Plette/Valenti performances.
Information on and tickets for San Francisco Opera's Madama Butterfly are available at www.sfopera.com.