# Madama Butterfly discography

This is a partial discography of Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly), an opera by Giacomo Puccini, first staged in Milan at La Scala on February 17, 1904.

## Audio recordings

| Year | Cast (Cio-Cio San, Pinkerton, Suzuki, Sharpless) | Conductor, Opera house and orchestra | Label/Notes |
| 1921 | Ottavia Giordano, Santo Santonocito, Ginevra Amato, Adolfo Pacini | Carlo Sabajno Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | LP: Società Nazionale del Grammofono Cat: S 5410-5434 |
| 1929 | Rosetta Pampanini, Alessandro Granda, Conchita Velasquez, Gino Vanelli | Lorenzo Molajoli Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | LP: Columbia Cat: D 14530-43 CD: Arkadia Cat: 78041 |
| 1929-30 | Margaret Burke Sheridan, Lionello Cecil, Ida Mannarini, Vittorio Weinberg | Carlo Sabajno Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | LP: La voce del padrone Cat: S 10190-205 CD: Romophone Cat: 89001-2 Arkadia, Cat: 78030 |
| 1939 | Toti Dal Monte, Beniamino Gigli, Vittoria Palombini, Mario Basiola | Oliviero De Fabritiis Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: La voce del padrone DB 3859-3874 CD: EMI CHS Cat: 7 69990-2 |
| 1948 | Eleanor Steber, Jan Peerce, Suzanne Carré, Richard Bonelli | Eugene Ormandy Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and chorus | CD: VAI Cat: VAIA 1220 |
| 1949 | Eleanor Steber, Richard Tucker, Jean Madeira, Giuseppe Valdengo | Max Rudolf Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | LP: Columbia Records Cat: 13011D -13026D CD: Sony Cat: MH2K 62765 |
| 1951 | Renata Tebaldi, Giuseppe Campora, Nell Rankin, Giovanni Inghilleri | Alberto Erede Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus | LP: Decca Cat: LXT 2638-2640 CD: Naxos Historical Cat: 8.110254-55 |
| 1953 | Clara Petrella, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Mafalda Masini, Giuseppe Taddei | Angelo Questa RAI National Symphony Orchestra and chorus | LP: Cetra Cat: OLPC1248/1-3 CD: Warner-Fonit Cat: 0927-43551-2 |
| 1954 | Victoria de los Ángeles, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Anna Maria Canali, Tito Gobbi | Gianandrea Gavazzeni Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: La voce del padrone cat: ALP 1215-1217 CD: Naxos Historical Cat: 8.111291-92 |
| 1955 | Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Lucia Danieli, Mario Borriello | Herbert von Karajan Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | LP: Columbia Cat: 33CX 1296-1298 CD: Naxos Historical Cat: 8.111026-27 |
| 1956 | Dorothy Kirsten, Daniele Barioni, Mildred Miller, Clifford Harvuot | Dimitri Mitropoulos Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | LP: Metropolitan Opera Record Club Cat: MO 722 CD: Living Stage Cat: LS 1038 |
| 1957 | Anna Moffo, Cesare Valletti, Rosalind Elias, Renato Cesari | Erich Leinsdorf Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: RCA Victrola Cat: VICS 6100 CD: RCA Victor Cat: 4145-2 |
| 1958 | Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Fiorenza Cossotto, Enzo Sordello | Tullio Serafin Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus | LP: Decca Cat: LXT 5468-5470 CD: Decca Cat: 470 577-2 |
| 1959 | Victoria de los Ángeles, Jussi Björling, Miriam Pirazzini, Mario Sereni | Gabriele Santini Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: La voce del padrone Cat: ALP 1795-1797 CD: EMI Classics Cat: 414446-5 1962 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording |
| 1962 | Leontyne Price, Richard Tucker, Rosalind Elias, Philip Maero | Erich Leinsdorf RCA Italiana Orchestra and chorus | LP: RCA Victor Cat: LSC 6160 CD: RCA Victor Cat: 09026 68884-2 1964 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording |
| 1966 | Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Anna di Stasio, Rolando Panerai | John Barbirolli Teatro Reale dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus | LP: La voce del padrone Cat: SAN 184-186 CD: EMI Classics Cat: 3.67720-2 |
| 1974 | Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Christa Ludwig, Robert Kerns | Herbert von Karajan Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna State Opera chorus | CD: Decca Cat: 417 577-2 |
| 1976 | Montserrat Caballé, Bernabé Martí, Silvana Mazzieri, Franco Bordoni | Armando Gatto Gran Teatre del Liceu orchestra and chorus | LP: Decca Cat: D68DR 3 |
| 1977 | Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Gillian Knight, Ingvar Wixell | Lorin Maazel Philharmonia Orchestra Ambrosian Opera Chorus | CD: Sony Classical Cat: SM2K 91135 |
| 1987 | Mirella Freni, José Carreras, Teresa Berganza, Juan Pons | Giuseppe Sinopoli Philharmonia Orchestra Ambrosian Opera Chorus | LP: Deutsche Grammophon 423 567-1 CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 423 567-2 |
| 1991 | Miriam Gauci, Yordy Ramiro, Nelly Boschkowá, Georg Tichy | Alexander Rahbari Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Slovak Philharmonic chorus | CD: Naxos Cat: 8.660015-16 |
| 1997 | Svetlana Katchour, Bruce Rankin, Fredrika Brillemburg, Heikki Kilpelainen | Günter Neuhold Bremer Philharmoniker Staatsorchester Bremer Theater chorus (Original 1904 version) | CD: Naxos Cat: 8.660078-79 |
| 2008 | Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann, Enkelejda Shkosa, Fabio Capitanucci | Antonio Pappano Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus | CD: EMI Classics Cat: 2641872 |

## Video recordings

| Year | Cast (Cio-Cio San, Pinkerton, Suzuki, Sharpless) | Conductor, Opera house and orchestra (Production details) | Label |
| 1956 | Anna Moffo, Renato Cioni, Miti Truccato Pace, Afro Poli | Oliviero De Fabritiis, RAI Milano orchestra and chorus | DVD: VAI Cat: VAI 4284 |
| 1974 | Mirella Freni, Plácido Domingo, Christa Ludwig, Robert Kerns | Herbert von Karajan, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera chorus (Film directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle) | Blu-ray/DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 073 5131/073 4037 |
| 1986 | Yasuko Hayashi, Peter Dvorský, Hak-Nam Kim, Giorgio Zancanaro | Lorin Maazel, Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus | DVD: Arthaus Cat: 100 110 |
| 2004 | Daniela Dessì, Fabio Armiliato, Rossana Rinaldi, Juan Pons | Plácido Domingo, Festival Puccini at Torre del Lago Città Lirica orchestra and chorus | DVD/CD: Dynamic Cat: 33457 Cat: CDS 599 |
| 2009 | Patricia Racette, Marcello Giordani, Maria Zifchak, Dwayne Croft | Patrick Summers, Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus (Recorded live, 7 March 2009; production: Anthony Minghella) | Streaming HD video: Met Opera on Demand DVD: Sony Classical Cat: 88697-80662-9 |
| 2009 | Raffaella Angeletti, Massimiliano Pisapia, Annunziata Vestri, Claudio Sgura | Daniele Callegari, Sferisterio Opera Festival (Recorded live, 24 July – 2 August 2009; stage director, set and costume designer: Pier Luigi Pizzi) | Blu ray/DVD: C Major |
| 2012 | Alexia Voulgaridou, Teodor Ilincai, Cristina Damian, Lauri Vasar | Alexander Joel, Hamburg Philharmonic, Hamburg State Opera Chorus (Recorded live, November 2012; stage director: Vincent Boussard) | Blu ray/DVD: ArtHaus Musik |
| 2016 | Maria José Siri, Bryan Hymel, Annalisa Stroppa, Carlos Álvarez | Riccardo Chailly, Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus (1904 version, recorded live, 2016) | Blu ray/DVD: Decca Cat: 100 110 |
| 2017 | Ermonela Jaho, Marcelo Puente, Elizabeth DeShong, Scott Hendricks | Antonio Pappano, Royal Opera House orchestra and chorus (Recorded live, 30 March 2017; stage directors: Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier) | Blu ray/DVD: Opus Arte |
| 2018 | Olga Busuioc, Joshua Guerrero, Elizabeth DeShong, Michael Sumuel | Omer Meir Wellber, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Glyndebourne Chorus (Recorded live, 21 June 2018, Glyndebourne Festival; designer: Nicky Shaw) | Blu ray/DVD: Opus Arte |
| 2022 | Maria Agresta, Joshua Guerrero, Christine Rice, Carlos Álvarez | Nicola Luisotti, Royal Opera House orchestra and chorus (Recorded live, 27 September 2022; stage directors: Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier) | HD video: ROH Stream |