Sung by Patricia Racette, with the orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Julian Kovatchev in 2012. Thousands of additional opera-goers enjoyed this performance in a free live simulcast at KeyArena.

At the heart of Puccini’s beloved tragedy, Madama Butterfly expresses her desperate faith that her beloved American sailor, B. F. Pinkerton, will come back to her one day:

“One fine day we'll see a wisp of smoke on the horizon…and then a ship will appear. The white ship enters the port. It thunders its salute. See? He's come! I don't go down to meet him. Not I. I stand at the top of the hill and wait…I wait a long, long time, but I don't mind. A man comes from the city—a little speck moving up the hill. Who is it? And when he comes, what will he say From the distance he'll call, "Butterfly..." I won't answer, I'll run and hide...partly to tease him, and partly so as not to die when we meet. He'll get worried, he'll call: "Sweet little wife, flower of my heart," the names he used to call me. All this will happen, I promise you. Have no fear. Secure in my faith I await him.”