Un bel dì vedremo the arrival of Pinkerton's ship, but it proves to be her last; Butterfly learns that Pinkerton has married another woman, and at the end of the opera the distraught Butterfly takes her own life. "Un bel dì vedremo" is especially significant as it appeals to audiences with its emotive melody but also encapsulates the tragedy at the heart of the opera, foretelling Cio-Cio San's inevitable demise. The aria was first performed by the well-known soprano Rosina Storchio at the premiere of "Madama Butterfly" on 17 February 1904 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In the revised version of the
Manon Lescaut (Puccini) Manon Lescaut (Puccini) Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini, composed between 1890 and 1893. The story is based on the 1731 novel "L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut" by the Abbé Prévost. In 1884 an opera by Jules Massenet entitled "Manon", and based on the same novel, was premiered and has also become popular. The libretto is in Italian, and was cobbled together by five librettists whom Puccini employed: Ruggero Leoncavallo, Marco Praga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Domenico Oliva and Luigi Illica. The publisher, Giulio Ricordi, and the composer himself also contributed to the