Act 2 of the opera by Puccini
A performance by the Sadler's Wells
Opera Company
Cast
The Company's augmented orchestra
Leader, E. J. Shadwick
Conductor, Lawrence Collingwood
From a Northern theatre
In Act 2 we find Butterfly and her child alone Pinkerton having been called home on duty. Three years have passed by since he sailed, but she still trusts him implicitly and with her son, Little Trouble', awaits his return.
In the meantime Pinkerton has married an American girl. He receives an order from the United States Navy to return to Japan, and with him he takes his wife, Kate. He writes to Sharpless, asking him to break the news to Butterfly.
Sharpless gives the letter to Butterfly, but she is so overjoyed that she does not trouble to open it but bids her maid, Suzuki, gather flowers to decorate the villa for her loved one's welcome home. She stays up all the night, but falls asleep in the morning from sheer fatigue.