But East clashes with West to dire effect as Cio-Cio-San, the young ‘Butterfly’ bride of the dashing American officer Lt B.F. Pinkerton, finds her romantic idyll shattered when he deserts her. Although she lives in hope of that ‘one fine day’ when he will return, increasing isolation and his final cruel revelation plunge her into tragic despair; the maid Suzuki and the American consul Sharpless can only look on, helpless. Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Learn more about London operas within the West End.