At the costume rehearsal of the Japanese tragedy Madama Butterfly (named after its protagonist) at the NCPA’s Jamshed Babha Theatre on Monday, emotions held the audience captive. When Soprano Elmira Veda unleashed the raw emotions of Madama Butterfly, who in Nagasaki has been achingly waiting for three years for her American husband to return, the audience was swept away.

With Madama Butterfly’s Indian premiere, musical history of sorts is created today. Billed as the operatic debut of India’s first professional symphony orchestra—The Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), which was formed two years ago—the opera will also be staged on February 29 and March 2. “It’s an enormous and ambitious undertaking. We selected the hugely popular and internationally acclaimed Madama Butterfly which is well known to the Mumbai audience through recordings,” says Khushroo Suntook, chairman of the SOI. Since 2008 marks the Italian composer’s 150th birth anniversary, that’s another compelling reason for staging his favourite opera. Though lavish, its presentation remains true to its tradition.

However, the maestro’s favourite piece is used to having a date with history. It was a complete flop when it opened at La Scala. Tables turned two months later when Puccini, a master at understanding theatrical requirements, readjusted the score. And Madama Butterfly, based on a short story by John Luther Long, went on to enjoy enduring success.

“Madama Butterfly is considered to be one of the stalwart women characters on the opera stage, which is mostly ruled by heroic male figures,” says Johannes Wildner, conductor of the production. The Viennese conductor, who has been working with the SOI for the past three weeks, is curious to know how the Mumbai audience would respond to the production: a Japanese woman decides her fate in the early 19th century—choosing death over the inevitability of becoming a geisha again.

It’s not just the strength or emotions of the character that makes it one of the most difficult roles to play. “Madama Butterfly remains on the stage almost throughout the three-hour show. During this, pure emotion has to be conveyed without the audience getting a whiff of the technicalities involved,” says Veda. And if the Russian soprano, who has performed the title role at the International Puccini Festival, is to be believed there is a string of technicalities to pay heed to.

The production—which exudes an international character with the SOI in the music pit as well as singers and players from more than 14 countries—is an indication of Mumbai’s growing fascination and understanding of such Western musical art.