Fast facts: Fanciulla del west is an
opera in three acts, written by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto by Guelfo
Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on a novel and play by David
Belasco, The Girl of the Golden West. The opera was premiered at
the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, on 10 December 1910.
The opening starred Enrico Caruso as Dick Johnson and was conducted by
Arturo Toscanini.
The opera was dedicated to
Alexandra, the British Queen.
The composer received 55
curtain calls at the premiere but the opera was not an immediate
success and did not enter the repertoire.
It has been reported that
Italian troops sang 'Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano' during World War
I.
According to the New Grove
Book of Opera: 'La fanciulla del West' is a remarkable
instance of self-renewal on the part of a composer who would seem to
have exhausted a vein of predominantly feminine softness. The
opera's atmosphere is unyieldingly masculine, at times brutal, the
harmonies more astringent than ever before with plentiful use of
whole-tone chords and unresolved dissonances, the rhythms vigorous,
sometimes syncopated and the lyrical moments comparatively few.
The influence of Debussy is clear, though, as always, perfectly
integrated within the composer's personal style. The Californian
ambience is evoked with the aid of American folk tunes and folkdances,
either authentic or imitated, with a Red Indian chant to characterize
Billy Jackrabbit and his squaw. Minnie is unique among Puccini's
heroines - cheerfully authoritative with a touch of the puritan
schoolmistress yet susceptible to tender passion and ready to compromise
her strict principles for the sake of the man she loves.
Orchestrally La
fanciulla del West is Puccini's most ambitious undertaking before Turandot, his forces including quadruple woodwind, two harps and an
assortment of percussion, from all of which he distilled a vast range of
instrumental color from the delicate to the barbaric. Though it
has never attained the easy popularity of its three predecessors, the
opera has always won the respect of musicians, among them Webern and
Ravel.
Main
Cast
Minnie, Proprietor of the Polka Saloon (soprano)
Jack
Rance, Sheriff (baritone)
Dick
Johnson/Ramerrez, Bandit (tenor)
Nick,
Bartender (tenor)
Ashby, Wells Fargo Agent (bass)
