Ulaanbaatar, June 13, 2024 /MONTSAME/. The 61st season of the State Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre of Mongolia started in October 2023. It will close on June 23, 2024, with world classics Adolphe Adam’s ballet “Giselle” and Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Chio Chio San.”

The Theatre is to play the romantic ballet “Giselle” on June 15-16, 2024. Initially named “The Wilis” or “The Ghosts”, the ballet was later named after the main character in the ballet Giselle. The ballet’s music was composed by Adolphe-Charles Adam, and the libretto was written by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier. The plot was inspired by a passage in Heinrich Heine’s book, De l'Allemagne. With the composition of Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, it first debuted at the now Grand Opera in Paris, France, on June 28, 1841. The ballet drew people’s interest instantly and was played in almost all European cities from 1841-1848.

Having debuted in Mongolia on December 22, 1979, “Giselle” was once again staged in 2022. The choreography was renewed by General Balletmaster of the State Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre of Mongolia D. Dashlkhagva, designed by the Theatre’s Set Designer Cultural Merit Laureate of Mongolia Ts. Ganzorig, and directed by Cultural Merit Laureate of Mongolia T. Gereltsetseg and T. Yunden. 

The world-renowned composer Giacomo Puccini’s opera play “Chio Chio San” will be performed on June 22-23, 2024, at the State Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre of Mongolia.

The Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s original version of “Chio Chio San”, also known as “Madama Butterfly”, had two acts and was first played at the legendary La Scala in Milan, Italy. However, audiences were not interested at all. So, Puccini quickly overhauled his opera and extended it to 3 acts, which was received outstandingly at the Brescia Theatre of Italy.

The opera’s libretto was composed by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa and was based on John Luther Long’s novel “Madame Butterfly.” Puccini wrote the third version of the opera in 1906 which was played in New York, the US, and his fourth version debuted in Paris in 1907. Again in 1907, Puccini made his final revisions to the opera in a fifth version, which has become known as the "Standard Version" and is the one that is most often performed today.

“Chio Chio San” is the 6th most-played opera in the world. The opera debuted in Mongolia for the first time on April 17, 1957, with the composition of D. Lkhagvasuren and conducted by B. Damdinsuren and J. Chuluun.

The operas of Giacomo Puccini, “Manon Lescaut”, “La Bohème”, and “Chio Chio San” are deeply encompassing classics that display humanity, and sympathy, and had a huge impact on opera. Theaters do not often dare to perform this work, as it requires professional singers to have a high level of musical education, vocal range, and elegant and precise acting skills. 

The opera “Chio Chio San” is a melancholic love story about an American Navy lieutenant and an oriental beauty with a face clear as jade and butterfly eyes. The opera was first performed in Milan, Italy in 1904, and was staged in Mongolia in 1967.