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Slovenia: Madama Butterfly

In the evening couple of us went to see the famous opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, Madama Butterfly. Some details:

G. Puccini: MADAMA BUTTERFLY
China National Opera House from Beijing
Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa, libretto
Yang Yang, conductor
Main cast:
Yao Hong, Cio-Cio-San
Li Shuang, Pinkerton

The China National Opera from Beijing returns to Ljubljana with this popular opera by Giacomo Puccini. The company brings together outstanding performers who have achieved notable successes in competitions and are active internationally. Since its foundation in 1952, the China National Opera has worked hard to ensure the highest level of professionalism and has consistently encouraged the development of new musical talents. In charge of proceedings is the musical director and chief conductor of the China National Opera, Yang Yang, one of the most active young conductors in China. In 2006 he became the first Chinese conductor to win the prestigious Dimitris Mitropoulos International Competition for Orchestral Conducting in Greece. He regularly appears as guest conductor at operatic and symphonic events around the world. The story of the betrayed Japanese geisha Cio-Cio-San, known as Butterfly, waiting for Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the US Navy, her great love and the father of her child, ends tragically. Pinkerton does return to Nagasaki three years later, with his American wife in tow, intending to take his son away with him. The stricken Butterfly decides to kill herself with her father’s harakiri knife.

Before the opera I found a couple of geocaches in Ljubljana. Old Power Station - Stara mestna elektrarna. Tadej Brate wrote the following at the centenary of the Ljubljana city power station: “On January 1st, 1898, the Slovene capital of Ljubljana shone with the electric light for the first time. This marked the beginning of the electrification era, of the implementation of everything new and modern. We can’t think of life without electricity today. Inventors developed new appliances, machines and modes of communication, which radically changed the conditions in the period of electrification.” source: http://www.bunker.si/eng/the-old-power-station

Ljubljana pond

Ticket for the opera

GeoCaches found:
- Stara mestna elektrarna/Old Power Station, GC42TZR
- Ajdovščina, GC5HHW2
- Railway Station, GC64TY0
- Ljubljanski Ribnik/ Ljubljana`s Pond, GC69WCA