Cinese Opera singer Shi Pei Pu in performance
THE PREMIERE
July 30, 2022, at the Santa Fe Opera
THE PEOPLE
René Gallimard: a French diplomat posted to Beijing
Song Liling: a Chinese Opera performer
Manuel Toulon: French ambassador to China
Comrade Chin: People’s Liberation Army member
Marc: Gallimard’s childhood friend
THE PLOT
The action takes place in René Gallimard’s jail cell in Paris, where he is serving a sentence for treason, and in flashbacks to various dates and places in China and France. In 1964, Gallimard was sent to Beijing, where he fell in love with Song Liling upon hearing the Chinese Opera star sing “Un bel dì” from Madama Butterfly at a party. Their relationship develops, even as the Frenchman is unaware that Song is male. Gallimard begins to think of himself as the American sailor Pinkerton in Puccini’s opera and of Song as the geisha Butterfly.