from Act I of the Italian opera
Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa
Role: Benjamin Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the US Navy
Voice Part: tenor Fach: spinto tenor
Setting: The garden of a Japanese house, overlooking the Nagasaki harbour
Synopsis: Pinkerton speaks with Sharpless, the U.S. Consul, saying that Americans take whatever liberties they want with the native women and then move on without regard to the consequences.