What did people do for entertainment before television and radio? They had the opera. The same melodramatic stories popular on soaps and daytime talk shows of the modern era were also popular in European operas. Consider Madame Butterfly, which tells the sad tale of unrequited love between an American sailor, Pinkerton, and his faithful, and naive Japanese bride, nicknamed Butterfly. Pinkerton married Butterfly for the convenience of having someone during his tour in Japan. He leaves shortly after the wedding, and doesn’t come back for three years; but Butterfly still waits. The plot, and its ultimate denouement, made the opera one of the most memorable in ages.

On this day, February 17, 1904, Madama Butterfly, as it was called in Italy, opened in the famous La Scala Theatre in Milan. It bombed: the early version had too many acts and did not hold audience interest. Embarrassed, its composer Giacomo Puccini cancelled future performances and tightened up the script to include only three acts, down from five.

The second version was much more popular, needing almost no other refinements. After premiering for a second time in the summer of 1904, it took only two years to reach American shores, and, by 1910, it was being performed in Australia. It has become a timeless classic, with its song “Un bei di” (One Beautiful Day) achieving instant recognition, even if listeners do not always realize where it is from.