| Giacomo Puccini |
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Operas
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La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by the American author David Belasco. Its highly-publicised premiere occurred in New York City in 1910.[1] Fanciulla followed Madama Butterfly, which was also based on a Belasco play. The opera has fewer of the show stopping highlights that are characteristic of other Puccini works, but is admired for its impressive orchestration and for a score that is more melodically integrated than is typical of his previous work. Fanciulla shows the influence of the work of Claude Debussy and Richard Strauss without being in any way imitative.
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La fanciulla del West was commissioned by, and first performed at, the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 10 December 1910 with Met stars Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn for whom Puccini created the leading roles of Dick Johnson and Minnie. Also in the cast was Pasquale Amato as Jack Rance. The Met's music director Arturo Toscanini conducted.[2] This was the first world premiere of an opera at the Met,[3]and it was initially well received in the United States. However, it was never quite as popular in Europe, except perhaps in Germany. There it enjoyed a triumphant premiere at the Deutsche Opernhaus in Berlin (now known as the Deutsche Oper) in March 1913, under the musical direction of Ignatz Waghalter.
Other premieres took place in London on 29 May 1911 at Covent Garden Theatre; in Rome on 12 June 1911 at the Teatro Costanzi; in Melbourne on 11 June 1912 at Her Majesty's Theatre and 25 July 1911 at Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires.
It is presented from time to time, but is not performed nearly as often as Puccini's other mature operas. The Metropolitan Opera presented the work in its 2010/11 season to mark the work's 100th anniversary.[4]
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 10 December 1910 (Conductor: Arturo Toscanini) |
|---|---|---|
| Minnie | soprano | Emmy Destinn |
| Dick Johnson alias Ramerrez, bandit | tenor | Enrico Caruso |
| Jack Rance, sheriff | baritone | Pasquale Amato |
| Nick, bartender at the Polka saloon | tenor | Albert Reiss |
| Ashby, Wells Fargo agent | bass | Adamo Didur |
| Sonora,[N 1] miner | baritone | Dinh Gilly |
| Trin, miner | tenor | Angelo Badà |
| Sid, miner | baritone | Giulio Rossi |
| Bello,[N 2] miner | baritone | Vincenzo Reschiglian |
| Harry, miner | tenor | Pietro Audisio |
| Joe, miner | tenor | Glenn Hall |
| Happy, miner | baritone | Antonio Pini-Corsi |
| Jim Larkens, miner | bass | Bernard Bégué |
| Billy Jackrabbit, a Red Indian | bass | Georges Bourgeois |
| Wowkle, his squaw | mezzo-soprano | Marie Mattfeld |
| Jake Wallace, a traveling camp minstrel | baritone | Andrés de Segurola |
| José Castro, a mestizo "greaser", from Ramirez' band | bass | Edoardo Missiano |
| The Pony Express rider | tenor | Lamberto Belleri |
| Men of the camp and boys of the ridge | ||
Inside the Polka Saloon
A group of Gold Rush miners enter the "Polka" saloon after a day working at the mine ("Hello! Hello! Alla 'Polka'"). After a song by traveling minstrel Jake Wallace ("Che faranno i vecchi miei"), one of the miners, Jim Larkens, is homesick and the miners collect enough money for his fare home ("Jim, perchè piangi?").
A group of miners playing cards discover that Sid is cheating and want to attack him. Sheriff Jack Rance quiets the fight and pins two cards to Sid's jacket, as a sign of a cheater.
A Wells Fargo agent, Ashby, enters and announces that he is chasing the bandit Ramerrez and his gang of Mexicans. Rance toasts Minnie, the girl who owns the saloon, as his future wife, which makes Sonora jealous. The two men begin to fight. Rance draws his revolver but at that moment, a shot rings out and Minnie stands next to the bar with a rifle in her hands ("Hello, Minnie!"). She gives the miners a reading lesson from the Bible ("Dove eravamo?").
The Pony Express rider arrives ("La posta!") and delivers a telegram from Nina Micheltorena, offering to reveal Ramerrez's hideout. The sheriff tells Minnie that he loves her, but Minnie puts him off as she is waiting for the right man ("Te voglio bene, Minnie").
A stranger enters the saloon and asks for a whisky and water, who introduces himself as Dick Johnson from Sacramento, and whom Minnie had met earlier. Johnson invites Minnie to dance with him and she accepts. Angrily, Rance watches them.
Ashby returns with the captured Ramerrez gang member, Castro. Upon seeing his leader, Johnson, in the saloon, Castro agrees to lead Rance, Ashby and the miners in a search for Ramerrez, and the group then follows him on a false trail and in what turns out to be a wild goose chase. But before Castro leaves, he whispers to Johnson that somebody will whistle and Johnson must reply to confirm that the place is clear. A whistle is heard, but Johnson fails to reply.
Minnie shows Johnson the keg of gold that she and the miners take turns to guard at night and Johnson reassures her that the gold will be safe there. Before he leaves the saloon, he promises to visit her at her cabin. They confess their love for each other. Minnie begins to cry, and Johnson comforts her before he leaves.
Minnie's dwelling, later that evening
Wowkle, a Native American squaw who is Minnie’s servant, her lover Billy Jackrabbit and their baby are present as Minnie enters, wanting to get ready for Johnson’s visit. Johnson enters Minnie's cabin and she tells him all about her life. It begins to snow. They kiss and Minnie asks him to stay till morning. He denies knowing Nina Micheltorena. As Johnson hides, a posse enters looking for Ramerrez and reveal to Minnie that Johnson is the bandit Ramerrez himself. Angry, she orders him to leave. After leaving, Minnie hears a gunshot and she knows Johnson has been shot. Johnson staggers in and collapses, Minnie helps him by hiding him up in the loft. Rance enters Minnie's cabin looking for the bandit and is about to give up searching for Johnson when drops of blood fall on his hand. Rance forces Johnson to climb down. Minnie desperately makes Rance an offer: if she beats him at poker, he must let Johnson go free; if Rance wins, she will marry him. Hiding some cards in her stockings, Minnie cheats and wins. Rance honors the deal and Minnie throws herself on the unconscious Johnson on the floor.
In the Great Californian Forest at dawn, sometime later
Johnson is again on the run from Ashby and the miners. Nick and Rance are discussing Johnson and wonder what Minnie sees in him when Ashby arrives in triumph: Johnson has been captured. Rance and the miners all want Johnson to be hanged. Johnson accepts the sentence and only asks the miners not to tell Minnie about his capture and his fate ("Ch'ella mì creda libero"). Minnie arrives, armed with a pistol, just before the execution and throws herself in front of Johnson to protect him. While Rance tries to proceed, she convinces the miners that they owe her too much to kill the man she loves, and asks them to forgive him ("Ah! Ah! E Minnie!"). One by one, the miners yield to her plea ("E anche tu lo vorrai, Joe"). Rance is not happy but finally he too gives in. Sonora unties Johnson and set him free. The miners bid Minnie farewell ("Le tue parole sono di Dio"). Minnie and Johnson leave California to start a new life together.
| Year | Cast (Minnie, Dick Johnson, Jack Rance) |
Conductor, Opera house and orchestra |
Label[5] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Carla Gavazzi, Vasco Campagnano, Ugo Savarese |
Arturo Basile, RAI Orchestra and Chorus, Milan |
CD: Warner Fonit Cat: 8573 87488-2 |
| 1956 | Gigliola Frazzoni, Franco Corelli, Tito Gobbi |
Antonino Votto, Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus (Recording of a performance at La Scala, 4 April) |
CD: Opera d'Oro Cat: 7036 |
| 1958 | Renata Tebaldi, Mario Del Monaco, Cornell MacNeil |
Franco Capuana, Santa Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Chorus |
CD: Decca Cat: 421595 |
| 1958 | Birgit Nilsson, João Gibin, Andrea Mongelli |
Lovro von Matačić, Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and chorus |
CD: EMI Classics Cat: 81862[6] |
| 1963 | Antonietta Stella, Gastone Limarilli, Anselmo Colzani |
Oliviero De Fabritiis, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Nikikai Chorus, Fujiwara Opera Chorus |
DVD: Video Artists Int'l Cat: 4439 |
| 1977 | Carol Neblett, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes |
Zubin Mehta, Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus |
CD:Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 419640 |
| 1982 | Carol Neblett, Plácido Domingo, Silvano Carroli |
Nello Santi, Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus |
DVD: Kultur Video Cat: 032031203891 |
| 1991 | Éva Marton, Dennis O'Neill, Alain Fondary |
Leonard Slatkin, Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Chorus |
CD: RCA Red Seal Cat: 60597 |
| 1991 | Mara Zampieri, Plácido Domingo, Juan Pons |
Lorin Maazel, Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and chorus |
DVD: BBC / Opus Arte Cat: OA LS3004 D |
| 1992 | Barbara Daniels, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes |
Leonard Slatkin, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus |
DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 00440 073 4023 |
The melody for Jake Wallace's song near the beginning of the first act is derived from two songs in a collection of Zuni melodies "recorded and harmonized" by ethnomusicologist Carlos Troyer, published in 1909. Puccini had obtained this publication in an effort to find authentic Native American music for Wowkle, but he ended up using it for Jake Wallace instead. (Several books about Puccini repeat Mosco Carner's claim that the song is based on Stephen Foster's "Old Dog Tray"; it is not.)[7]
A climactic phrase sung by Johnson, "Quello che tacete", near the end of the first act, bears a strong resemblance to a similar phrase in the Phantom's song, "The Music of the Night", in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical The Phantom of the Opera. Some listeners have cited this as evidence that Webber copied from Puccini. Following the success of Phantom, the Puccini estate filed suit against Webber accusing him of plagiarism, but the suit was settled out of court and details were not released to the public.[8][9]