In 1900, Puccini saw the one-act play Madama Butterfly by American producer David Belasco, based on a short story by John Luther Long. He was profoundly touched by the story of a Japanese girl's ill-fated love for an American sailor, and obtained the operatic rights to create a new opera production with lyricists Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica.

After several revisions following its premiere in 1904, the opera reached its definitive form, and even today, Cio-Cio-San's aria imagining the return of her husband Pinkerton, Un Bel di, Vedremo, remains one of the best-known arias in the soprano repertoire.

Since Madama Butterfly premiered in Covent Garden in 1905, the Royal Opera has made many productions of the opera, featuring diverse styles and designs. The current production was created in 2003, directed by Moshe Leiser from Belgium and Patrice Caurier from France. The choreography and make-up design were adjusted to be more historically realistic, and simpler stage design was adopted, following the trend in the Western opera scene through the past decades.

The Royal Opera has made co-productions with many other companies around the world, but this time things are a little different, according to Simms.

"We have invented a new co-production model in Shanghai," he says. The replica of the set and costumes are made here and stay in China, while the other version stays in London.

"This means we can share productions without the difficulty of transporting them to-and-from Europe continuously … We would like to stage this production many times in the future and in many other cities of China."

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn