Evening star., 1940-10-27
By ALICE EVERSMAN.

BY ALICE EVERSMAN.
1t seems almost incredible. ir
view of its present popularity, tha
Puccini's opera, "Ma0ame Butter
! fly, was a total failure at its frs
! production. The cruel reception tha
/ it was given at Milan in the debu
performance of 1904 when it wa
hooted and whistled al. was a blow
from which the composer never re-
covered and which made him "sicl
of life It's coloSSa success a few
months later in BreSc;a and its con.
tinued popularity in all the capital
of Europe, South America anc
United States could not heal tht
wound dealt him pv public whose
opinion he valued so highly.
Puccini may nave had some doubt!
as to the appeal Of other of hi!
/ operas. but no such thought entered
! his mind as regards the fate o.
Butterfly" So sure was he thai
the gentle. little Ciu-Cio-San anc
her sad story would touch all hearts
even as she had done his own, thai
he departed from e custom anc
asked members of his family anc
some dear friends to be present tc
witness his triumph. When the
kissing began-the dreaded express
sion of disapproval in Italy--he
could not believe he heard Alright
and, as the uproar grew in vindic-
tiveneSs. he suffered as he never
had before.
/ Of that evening he wrote friend
Il have been the victim of bruta
! lynching-I was heard with ironiC
laughs and savage howls. NY con.
science tells me I have done the
best I could. In Madame Butter
fly" I have put all my soul and
assure you that during the re.
hearsals the fascination of this poor
little creature conquered everybody
from the stagehands tC the ushers
Shall I have my revenge? I hope
so and think So
Sought New Subject.
| Unlike many another composer
he lived to see his prediction come
true. to see unabashed enthusiasts
| openly weeping at the tragedy anC
to know that ne had enriched the
musical world. not only with great
work, but with the development Of
a new type of Interpretation that
had its origin In tne portrayal OF
/ the little geisha giri and her Amer
lean husband.
Puccini had just seen his previous
opera, "Tosca," already prime
favorite with audiences everywhere
and was beginning to cast about fol-
! another subject. He was AZ years ole
and a famous man in musical circles
when some friends took him to see a
performance of Belasco's drama in
London. Although Puccini knew nc
English, the thread of the story was
perfectly clear to him and he at once
became enamored of it. His i'm
patience to try his hand at a musical
setting of Butterfly" made the delay
in gaining Belasco's consent most
irksome. The more l think OF
Butterfly" the more irreSistibly am
I attracted Oh, if only I had it
here that might set to work on it,
he wrote a friend
The story of the japanese geisha
girl who married an American naval
officer in what, to him, was a mock
marariage, his long absence in
America during which he contracted
marriage with a girl of his own
nationality, not knowing that the
little Japanese had borne him son
his return to Japan and the tragic
ending of -Cio-San's love and
fidelity is rich in dramatic posi-
bilities. The fact that the American
| contingent of the story shows up in
a most unfavorable light both the
officer and the American consul
being weaklings has never prevented
it from being accepted wholeheart-
edly in this country. One OF the
chief objections of the Milanese
audience was its japanese setting
which proved too novel for theil
| taste
Hurt in Auto Wreck.
The Just evaluation of real the
atrical material was second nature
to Puccini. He sensed that a work
so clear in plan and so potent ir
appeal as to reach one not able tc
follow the lines with understanding
had the pure essence of drama in it
When the preliminaries had beer
completed and the librettists hao
arranged the text he began work
confident of triumph.
He had hardly finished the first
act, however, when he was severely
injured in an auto accident. Although
near death from the fumes of his
overturned car and suffering from a
broken leg that kept him in bed fol-
some months, he finished the work
less than year after his accident
His leg never healed properly and
he was left with a permanent limp
which, when he thought Of it, must
have reminded him of the glorious
frenzy in which he composed what
was to prove his greatest work.
The figure of the innocent, sinned-
against Cio-Cio-San so dominated
him that every other character in
the drama shrank in importance
beside her. He wrote with rare
eiairvova NJ fy,ai0ht istn tha heart al