Asmik Grigorian, can we imagine a modern woman loving in the same way that Cio-Cio-San did?
Some things never change, and the power of great emotion is one of them. Opera has always been a genre where the power of feeling is writ large. Giving one’s own feelings space to breathe never goes out of fashion.

And Madame Butterfly even sacrifices herself for love.
Not for Pinkerton, though! Few things remain constant over the millennia, and unconditional love for one’s child is one of them. When it dawns on Cio-Cio that Pinkerton has not returned with the intention of marrying her but to take her child away, she kills herself. A sacrifice that it’s hard to imagine someone making for anyone other than their own child.

What kind of a relationship did you have with your mother?
My mother was an opera singer and happened to sing Madame Butterfly when she was pregnant with me, so when I was born I’d already been exposed to the role, as it were. And when I was a child, I was cast in the role of Cio-Cio’s child - which makes it quite emotional for me, because there’s a direct tie to my personal biography.

How does Cio-Cio’s radical stance come across in the music?
Act 1 is not at all like the music in the other two acts. It’s higher, lighter, more lyrical. Later on it gets more dramatic, in line with the development of her character. She starts out full of hope, but the hope is then dashed. However easy I might find Act 1, it gets harder as the opera progresses. The demands made on performers fluctuate considerably in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, more than in many other works, and this richness and variation makes Cio-Cio one of the nicest and most complex roles for soprano in opera. I sang it for the first time in 2007 and have been revisiting the role regularly since 2013. The ‘no holds barred’ unrestrained nature of the part always makes it challenging and unpredictable.

Cio-Cio-San is Japanese, Puccini’s opera Italian. Any cultural conflicts there?
Puccini’s exoticism is doubtless relevant, but he focuses mostly on the storyline. On the one hand the way the characters express their feelings is distinctly Italian; on the other hand »Butterfly« stays quite shut off, which is more the Japanese style. But the heights of emotion are the same, even if the way the feelings are shown differs. Fortunately, feelings are universal. It’s just a pity that the dramatic aspect of love and dependency never changes.

Are you looking forward to singing at the Deutsche Oper Berlin?
Actually one of my first engagements outside of Lithuania was at the Komische Oper Berlin, and I went on to appear at the Staatsoper Berlin on a number of occasions. I’m really chuffed to now be making my operatic debut on the main stage of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and with MADAMA BUTTERFLY of all things. Up till now I’ve only sung here for the AIDS Gala.