Wow, a week has gone by and I haven't opened my laptop, let alone written a blog post! So I am very sorry that we are already back at Friday again and Creating Trouble has been silent. I aim to do better in future... in fact, maybe I'll write a few posts now and schedule them for the next few days? Yes, that's a great plan.
Did you know that on this day in 1904 Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly opened at the La Scala theatre in Milan, Italy? Well, it did. I think I am going to save the opera theme for the moment; this week's theme is dedicated to butterflies.
What little snippets of information can I find you this week?
Madame Butterfly was really badly received: the audience hissed and booed throughout the performance and it was withdrawn after only one performance. The show was revamped and reopened four months later in Brescia where it was much more successful.
Butterflies can't fly if their body temperature falls below 86 degrees
There are about 24,000 different kinds of butterfly - nowhere near as many as moths though; they number about 140,000.
The largest butterflies can be up to 12 inches across. The smallest - only 1/4 of an inch across.
The only place you won't find butterflies is in Antarctica. They exist everywhere else, although being cold-blooded they much prefer warmer climes. There are very few in deserts as well as there isn't enough food for them to survive there.
One of my favourite words in German is 'Schmetterling' - meaning butterfly. It's 'papillon' in French, 'farfalle' in Italian and 'babochka' (бабочка) in Russian.
Thought I'd include an aria from Madame Butterfly for you:
Thank you! I saw Madame Butterfly a few years ago at the English National Opera - my sisters and I do a yearly Christmas trip to the theatre together. We really enjoyed it although we had terrible seats up in the gods! The music is stunning!
4 comments:
Really interesting. I thought you might like to know that in Welsh it's pilipala
Love that aria!
Pilipala? I really like the sound of that - a little like the breeze going through their wings, perhaps?
I also like how you can see the french connection there - papillon/pilipala...
What is 'butterfly' in other languages that people speak?
Brilliant post, I recommend going to see it if you are able to it's an outstanding opera.
Thank you! I saw Madame Butterfly a few years ago at the English National Opera - my sisters and I do a yearly Christmas trip to the theatre together. We really enjoyed it although we had terrible seats up in the gods! The music is stunning!
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