Metropolitan Opera Preview: La Fanciulla del West

Italian opera goes west...with Jonas Kaufmann.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Just a small-town girl: Eva-Marie Westbroek as Minnie in La Fanciulla del West.
Photo © 2018 Royal Opera House of Covent Garden.

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann and soprano Eva-Marie Westbroek are reunited in Puccini's boiled spaghetti Western. This is the story of a barmaid and a bandit and their forbidden love against the spectacular backdrop of the California gold rush. It premiered at the Met in 1910. Beloved by connoisseurs, Fanciulla stands as one of the great Italian operas, and a work that is only revived occasionally. See it!

Opera Preview: La Fanciulla del West

New York City Opera will kick off its season with Puccini's most American opera.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Cards with a stranger: Emmy Destinn (right) and Enrico Caruso (center) in Act II
of La Fanciulla del West. Photo © 1910 the Ricordi Archives.

The resuscitated New York City Opera has reclaimed its position as the leadoff hitter of the 2017 fall cultural season in New York City, as they prepare to open Sept. 6 with a staging of Giacomo Puccini's La Fanciulla del West.

Opera Review: Three Aces and a Pair

Apotheosis Opera takes on The Girl of the Golden West
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This Minnie ain't no mouse: Stacy Stofferahn confronts "Dick Johnson" (Nicholas Simpson)
in Act II of Puccini's The Girl of the Golden West. Photo by Matthew Kipnis for Apotheosis Opera.

If the triptych of great tragic operas by Giacomo Puccini can be compared to the iconic tragedies of Shakespeare, then the later works of his catalogue are equivalent to the "problem plays," works that for whatever reason do not hold the stage with the same frequency as La Bohéme, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. On Friday night, the young ad hoc company Apotheosis Opera took on one of those works: La Fanciulla del West. This is Apotheosis' second production in its young history, and Fanciulla (English title: The Girl of the Golden West) is Puccini's most difficult show to mount.



This performance, held in the richly painted Teatro del Museo del Barrio at the upper end of Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile, was a huge challenge for any opera company, let alone one made of young singers and musicians committing themselves on their nights off. On Friday night, artists displayed pluck and commitment in the face of adversary, showing not only commitment and enthusiasm but the understanding of this work that comes from hard work and long rehearsal. Much of that credit goes to conductor Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz, who decided to follow last year's ambitious Tannhäuser with this even more difficult show.

Set in a California mining town at the height of the gold rush, The Girl presents formidable issues in terms of libretto and staging, not to mention the steep requirements Puccini asked from his leading lady. As Minnie, Stacy Stofferahn commanded the stage from the moment she strode into the Polka Saloon to restore order armed with a shotgun and a Bible. But her best weapons were a Nordic charm and a potent soprano voice. Over three grueling acts, she showed that she had enough aces hidden in her boots to win each of the opera's three acts.

Minnie must ride smoothly through the narrow canyons of the passagio, turning on a dime from a sweet, innocent Sunday school to a mountain lioness determined to defend her lover in the second act. Ms. Stofferahn managed these conflicts adroitly, letting out a great cry of "He is mine!" over the bellowing roar of the huge orchestra at the act's climax. She was even better in the third act, as she faced down a lynch mob of miners determined to string her lover up for his past crimes, and got them all to reflect on the futility of violence and the value of forgiveness.

When this opera premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1910, the tenor was Enrico Caruso.  Nicholas Simpson (last year's Tannhäuser) is no Caruso, but he sang with fervor and a Siegfried-like sangfroid. Tall, imposing and as bald as his animated television counterpart, Mr. Simpson drew a laugh with his entry line "So who wants to curl my hair back?" He packed a bright, clarion tenor and carried off his role with enthusiasm, despite pitch problems that appeared when he leapt up the scale into the uppermost range of his instrument. A flawed but enjoyable performance.

Jack Rance is the town sheriff whose blind love for Minnie recalls the Baron Scarpia's cruel streak. John Dominick III sang this difficult role with power and presence, with a plummy, bass-baritone that was occasionally drowned by the waves of sound billowing from the pit.. The other miners in the town (there is no chorus, Puccini instead created fifteen highly indivudual parts) came across as a real community, bonding over crooked card games and reluctantly dancing with each other in Minnie's absence. In the third act, when searching for Johnson, the miners invaded the house, creating spatial effects that were much more effective than singing offstage.

In this witty, spare production by Lucca Damilano, the complex social interactions of the first act were more than just a time-killer. Played against a simple set with a Star Trek-like suggestion of doors and windows, the onstage action was a fascinating look into the miners' lonely little world. Indeed, this production's greatest service may be that it presented Fanciulla in a fresh light. With a smart, accurate English translation (by Kelley Rourke, solving many of the libretto's awkward American-isms, Apotheosis showed that you don't have to visit the Met to see Puccini's West.

All Guns Blazing: A Guide to La Fanciulla del West

Enrico Caruso as Dick Johnson, circa 1910
Photo © Metropolitan Opera Archives

Puccini's La Fanciulla del West ("The Girl of the Golden West") turns 100 years old next week. The Metropolitan Opera, which premiered the opera on Dec. 10, 1910, is celebrating the occasion with a revival of its current production, starring soprano Deborah Voigt as Minnie, the title role.

In some ways, "Le Girl" (as Puccini called her) is a more challenging role than Turandot. Like the icy Chinese princess, Puccini wrote for a full dramatic soprano. But Minnie is a much longer part, and requires a sweet delivery in addition to all the high notes and heroics.

Beyond the technical issues, there are other factors that may explain why La Fanciulla del West has never caught the public's imagination the way Bohéme, Tosca and Turandot did.

Minnie does not get a solo aria. She participates in ensembles and duets, and has lots of difficult music. But there's no 'spotlight' moment. Also, she gets to rescue the tenor and ride with him off into the sunset, but there's no spectacular death scene--making the role less attractive to divas longing to die onstage--or in the case of Tosca, leap off the back of it.

That said, in the right hands (Ms. Voigt's) it's a terrific part, running the gamut from the Act I lesson scene to the famous poker game in Act II, where Minnie gambles for the tenor's life, cheats and wins. Her prize: Dick Johnson, (in realty the nefarious bandit Ramirrez) who is in turn hunted by the sheriff, Jack Rance, an heir to Scarpia in tone and temperament. (Rance is a lot less evil than the Tosca villain--he wants to marry, not rape Minnie.)

As Johnson/Ramirrez, the tenor gets to sing the best tune in the opera, "Quel chello taccete." This theme was rewritten by Andrew Lloyd Webber for The Phantom of the Opera as "The Music of the Night." Sir Andrew was sued by Puccini's publishers, and paid an undisclosed sum in settlement.

On to the recordings. There are three that are of note:

Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala cond. Franco Capuana
Minnie: Renata Tebaldi
Dick Johnson/Ramirrez: Mario del Monaco
Jack Rance: Sherrill Milnes

Renata Tebaldi recorded the role of Minnie in 1958, with the La Scala chorus and orchestra. This recording has excellent work in the compromario parts. But the big attraction here is Mario del Monaco as Dick Johnson. (God, that sentence sounds pornographic!) The Italian tenor is at the top of his form, and his long experience singing opposite Renata Tebaldi pays off in making the romance between Minnie and Dick--excuse me, Ramirrez--completely believable.


Chorus and Orchestra of the Academy of St. Cecilia, Rome cond. Lovro von Matačić
Minnie: Birgit Nilsson
Dick Johnson/Ramirrez: João Gibin
Jack Rance: Andrwa Mongelli

The classic 1959 set from EMI features the redoubtable Birgit Nilsson in a rare Italian role. Minnie is ideal for her instrument, although herformidable presence makes this an Italian girl that no-one in his right rootin'-tootin' mind would ever mess withg . She is backed by an adequate, if not especially memorable cast (João Gibin? Andrea Mongelli?) In fact, Nilsson was a last-minute replacement for Maria Callas, who decided not to record the role as she had never sang it onstage.



Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House of Covent Garden cond. Zubin Mehta
Minnie: Carol Neblett
Dick Johnson/Ramirrez: Placído Domingo
Jack Rance: Sherrill Milnes

With his good looks and swaggering demeanor, Placído Domingo makes a good case for himself as Dick Johnson in this 1977 recording. He is paired with Carol Neblett, a fine lyric soprano whose voice is taxed the the edge by the heavy demands of Minnie. Sherrill Milnes is in fine mustache-twirling form as Rance, the role he was born to play. Zubin Mehta is not the most inspired conductor, but the set sounds better overall than its '50s counterparts.

Even Cowgirls Get the Accolades

Pistol-packin' Deborah is prepared to sing Minnie.

The San Francisco Opera has released preview footage of Deborah Voigt as Minnie in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West.

Written for a premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, La Fanciulla adapts a David Belasco play set in the Old West, transporting the characters into an Italian opera. If this sounds like a bizarre Star Trek episode, you're not far off.

Although certain lines in the libretto ("Wisky per tutti!") don't translate well, this story makes for a marvelous Italian opera. It's so good that Andrew Lloyd Webber ripped whole chunks out of the score to write The Phantom of the Opera. Guess he found the music to be "really useful."



Minnie is a barmaid in a mining camp who acts as a maternal figure to the rough-hewn minors. She falls in love with the bandit Ramirrez in his "civilian" identity of Dick Johnson. When Johnson/Ramirrez is wounded by the sherrif Jack Rance, Minnie must decide whether or not to save him from the gallows. The title role is one of the most difficult female leads in the Italian repertory, made more difficult by the fact that while Minnie is on stage for almost all of the action, she does not get her own aria.

Ms. Voigt has made this role a specialty in recent years. It lies right in her vocal range, requiring a powerful, flexible soprano instrument that can manage the lyric outpourings and still have steel underneath for the heroic scenes in the last act.



La Fanciulla is due for a New York revival at the Met next season, with performances starting December 6. The revival stars Deborah Voigt and tenor Marcello Giordani. Ms. Voigt has also been engaged to sing upcoming performances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.