| La fanciulla del West | |
|---|---|
| Opera byGiacomo Puccini | |
"Una partita a poker" – a crucial scene in the opera;Emmy Destinn in the title role in the première andPasquale Amato as Sheriff Jack Rance. | |
| Translation | The Damsel of the West |
| Librettist | |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | David Belasco's playThe Girl of the Golden West |
| Premiere | |
La fanciulla del West (The Damsel of the West) is anopera in three acts byGiacomo Puccini to an Italianlibretto byGuelfo Civinini andCarlo Zangarini, based on the 1905 playThe Girl of the Golden West by the American authorDavid Belasco.Fanciulla followedMadama Butterfly, which was also based on a Belasco play. The opera has fewer of the show-stopping highlights that characterize Puccini's other 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 displays influences from composersClaude Debussy andRichard Strauss, without being in any way imitative. Similarities between the libretto and the work ofRichard Wagner have also been found though some attribute this more to the original plot of the play, and have asserted that the opera remains quintessentially Italian.
At its première, Puccini declaredLa fanciulla del West to be the greatest composition of his career as a composer. In 1910, its highly publicised first performance at theMetropolitan Opera in New York City was immensely popular with audiences. However, much to the composer's disappointment, it received a less than positive reaction from American critics who felt the composer failed to effectively integrate an American aesthetic into the opera's score. The opera was widely performed internationally in the three years following the premiere for performances in cities throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. However, critical reaction to the work was largely negative internationally with the exception of critics in Italy at this time in history.
After 1913, stagings ofLa fanciulla del West during the early and mid-20th century were more infrequent; although the opera has never left the performance repertoire. While overall public reception of the work has remained mixed, critical assessment of the opera underwent a reversal among Puccini scholars beginning in the late 20th century. Despite the plot being a source of significant criticism, the majority of published writers on Puccini and his music in the late 20th century and 21st century deemLa fanciulla del West Puccini'smagnum opus, particularly lauding its craftsmanship.
Its critical reassessment coincided with an increase of performances of the opera at opera houses internationally during the late 20th and 21st centuries. Today performances of the opera are not rare, but the work is still not as frequently programmed as Puccini's other mature operas, such asLa bohème andTosca.
In 2006, American philanthropistBruce Kovner donated a large collection of original manuscripts to theJuilliard School in New York City, including Puccini's manuscript forLa fanciulla del West.[1]

La fanciulla del West was premièred on 10 December 1910 at theMetropolitan Opera inNew York City, who commissioned the work. Puccini created the leading roles of Dick Johnson and Minnie forEnrico Caruso andEmmy Destinn, the company's two leading singers. Also in the cast wasPasquale Amato as Jack Rance. The Met's music directorArturo Toscanini, who called the opera a " greatsymphonic poem", conducted.[2] This was the first world première of an opera at the Met,[3] and was extremely well-received by audiences in this initial production.[4][5] At the première, the composer received fourteencurtain calls after the first act, nineteen curtain calls after the second act, and twenty after the finale.[6]
Puccini himself was incredibly thrilled with the work and both he and his publisher,Ricordi, assumed that the opera's enthusiastic response from New York audiences would translate into another popular success on the international stage.[5] In some respects this was initially the case, as the opera enjoyed a large number of stagings in the two years after its premiere with many performances in major American cities, over twenty productions in Germanopera houses, and performances in theaters inLondon,Liverpool,Buenos Aires,Naples,Milan,Rome, andBudapest.[7] Critical reaction to the opera, however, never matched Puccini's own favorable view of his opera, and the work struggled to a find a place in the regularly performed opera repertoire after this initial flurry of performances.[8]
American critics were lukewarm in their reception,[8] largely criticizing the work for failing to successfully incorporate American idioms into its musical score.[9] In analyzing the disparity between audience response and American critical reaction, musicologistKathryn Fenton asserts that American critics were trying to wrestle with their conceptions of American identity stating,
Marked by ambivalence, the reviews expose the New York City critics' struggle to reconcile the opera they expected to see with the one they actually saw. Their view of the opera's place in Puccini's repertoire and in the early 20th-century opera canon differed—in some cases drastically—with the composer's own assessment. One of the strongest objections made concerned its local color, its attempt to portray a Californian mining camp during the1849 Gold Rush through characters, dialect, body language, clothing, buildings, landscape, customs, situation, and—most importantly—music considered stereotypical of the region. Critics found the manner in which Puccini attempted to musically depict the American locale problematic.[5]
Immediately following its première,La fanciulla del West was programed by several American opera companies. The AmericanCarolina White, who had previously established herself as a leading soprano in opera houses in Italy and Switzerland, made her United States opera debut as Minnie in theChicago première of the opera on December 27, 1910, at theChicago Auditorium by theChicago Grand Opera Company.[10] White performed the role again for the opera's first stagings inMilwaukee (1910)[10] andBoston (1911), the latter with theBoston Opera Company.[11]Henry Wilson Savage staged the opera's first English-language production for itsConnecticut premiere at thePoll's Theater inBridgeport on October 27, 1911, withLuisa Villani as Minnie.[12]
While American critics were lukewarm in their reviews ofLa fanciulla del West, English critics were even more harsh in their initial assessment of the opera.[8] The work was poorly reviewed when theRoyal Opera House, Covent Garden, staged the European and British première of the work on May 29, 1911 under the baton ofCleofonte Campanini with the same cast as the Met première with the exception ofAmedeo Bassi in the role of Johnson.[8] Italian critics, however, were more positive in their assessment of the opera during its Italian premièreTeatro Costanzi in Rome on June 12, 1911.[8] This performance was attended by KingVictor Emmanuel III of Italy and QueenElena of Montenegro who reportedly warmly received the opera.[13] However, while praised by both Italian critics and the monarchy, the opera did not achieve popularity with the public and failed to gain a place among the regularly programmed local operatic repertoire.[8]
Puccini himself conductedLa fanciulla del West for its first performance inLucca at theTeatro del Giglio in 1911. The theater's orchestra pit was redesigned by Puccini and rebuilt just prior to the performance.[14] It was first staged atLa Scala on December 12, 1912, withTina Poli Randaccio as Minnie andTullio Serafin conducting where it ran thirteen performances.[15]
The German première ofLa fanciulla del West, as in the United States, enjoyed positive audience responses, but received negatively by critics when staged at theDeutsches Opernhaus in Berlin (now known as theDeutsche Oper) on March 28, 1913, under the direction ofIgnatz Waghalter.[16] Other premières took place at theTeatro Colón in Buenos Aires on July 25, 1911; and inMelbourne on June 11, 1912 atHer Majesty's Theatre.[citation needed] The French world première in French took place in theOpéra de Monte-Carlo on April 12, 1912 in an adaptation byMaurice Vaucaire [fr].[17] TheZimin Opera presented the work's Russian première on October 2, 1913, at theSolodovnikov Theatre inMoscow.[18]
In spite of criticism, Puccini insisted thatLa fanciulla del West was his greatest composition up to that point in his career.[8] Yet the opera struggled to find a place in the standard opera repertory in the 20th century, even in the United States, enjoying only periodic performances.[8] Critical reaction and public reception of the work has been divided, and the opera has never achieved the popularity enjoyed by many of Puccini's other operas.[19] Only late in the 20th century was the opera re-assessed as a work of quality, and Puccini scholars have acknowledged that the opera was an important departure in Puccini's body of work from a predominant quality of feminine softness in his other works towards a decidedly masculine aesthetic.[8] Likewise, the complexity of the opera's harmonic language and its use of a wide range of instrumental colour has led some writers on music to label it as Puccini's greatest opera.[6]
La fanciulla del West has fewer of the show-stopping highlights that characterize Puccini's other works, but is admired for its impressive orchestration and for a score that is more melodically integrated than is typical of his previous work. The work displays influences from composersClaude Debussy andRichard Strauss,[20] without being in any way imitative. Similarities between the libretto and the work ofRichard Wagner have also been found,[20][21] though some attribute this more to the original plot of the play,[21] and have asserted that the opera remains quintessentially Italian.[20]
Yet, some critics of the opera, particularly in America, have deemed the opera as conceived "silly"; largely in relation to its American storyline being told through the vehicle of an Italian opera.[22] For example, music critic Robert Levine stated the following in his review of a 2004 production at theGlimmerglass Opera: “The entire concept of an Italian opera taking place during the California Gold Rush of the 1850s is a mite silly.”[23]Smith College musicology professor Ruth A. Solie has written about the hypocrisy of such criticisms, noting that Americans often have no trouble accepting Italian operas set in foreign locales like Egypt (Aida) and China (Turandot).[22] In analyzing this general reaction among American reviews, Annie J. Randall observed in her bookPuccini and the Girl: History and Reception of “The Girl of the Golden West (2005, University of Chicago Press) that European operas often feature the "exotic" and suggests that American critics have professed “annoyance that Americans had been made the object of the voyeuristic imperial gaze on the opera stage.”[24]
Despite the plot being a source of significant criticism, the majority of academics and musicians today agree in calling it amagnum opus, particularly lauding its musical craftsmanship.[20]
WhileLa fanciulla del West has failed to match the popularity of some of Puccini's other works, such asLa bohème,Tosca andMadama Butterfly, the work has never completely left the opera repertoire. For periodic stretches of time in the 20th century, performances of the opera occurred with less frequency, but the opera has had a resurge of interest internationally in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[25] AlthoughFanciulla is not performed as often as Puccini's other mature operas,[20]it is still produced semi-regularly.[26]
In 1921, the opera was staged at theOpéra de Monte-Carlo where Puccini was particularly impressed by sopranoGilda dalla Rizza, remarking, "At last I have seen my true Fanciulla."[27] In 1922, theChicago Civic Opera staged the opera withRosa Raisa as Minnie; a production which the company toured to New York'sManhattan Opera House.[28] In 1927 theVienna State Opera staged the work with a critically lauded performance byMaria Jeritza in the role of Minnie; with the soprano receiving fourteen curtain calls in her final performance of the production.[29] In 1934 the opera was given its Swedish premiere in Stockholm at theRoyal Swedish Opera withJussi Björling as Dick Johnson andHelga Görlin as Minnie.[30]
The Metropolitan Opera has revivedLa fanciulla del West several times during the company's history after the initial production of the opera left its repertoire in 1914. The first time was in 1929 with Jeritza as Minnie andGiovanni Martinelli as Dick Johnson; a production which remained in the Met's performance repertoire through 1931.[31][32] In 1930, the opera was presented for the first time on theMetropolitan Opera radio broadcasts for a live national broadcast with New Zealand sopranoFrances Alda singing the role of Minnie.[33]
After a 30-year absence,La fanciulla del West was revived again at the Met in 1961 with a production directed by Henry Butler with an initial cast ofLeontyne Price as Minnie andRichard Tucker as Dick Johnson.[34] Butler's staging of the work remained in the Met's performance repertoire for periodic performances over the next nine years; with its final performances being in 1970 with sopranoRenata Tebaldi as Minnie.[35] The work as staged by Butler was notably the very first opera performance presented at the newly builtMetropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center on April 11, 1966, with sopranoBeverly Bower in the role of Minnie.[36] More recently the Met revived the opera in 1991 withBarbara Daniels as Minnie; using a staging byGiancarlo del Monaco which has remained in the Met's rotating repertoire for periodic performance; most recently in 2018 withEva-Maria Westbroek as Minnie.[37] The Met also presented this staging of the work in the 2010–2011 season withDeborah Voigt as Minnie to mark the 100th anniversary of the opera's premiere in 1910.[38]
TheSan Francisco Opera (SFO) staged the work for the first time on September 15, 1930, with Jeritza as Minnie,Frederick Jagel as Dick Johnson, andGaetano Viviani as Jack Rance.[39] The company has since presented the opera in five more of its opera seasons, including productions in 1943 withFlorence Kirk as Minnie andRobert Weede as Jack Rance; in 1960 withDorothy Kirsten as Minnie andSandor Konya as Dick Johnson;[40] in 1965 withChester Ludgin as Jack Rance andMarie Collier as Minnie using a production staged byLotfi Mansouri;[41] in 1979 withCarol Neblett as Minnie andGiovanni Gibin as Dick Johnson;[42] and in 2010 withDeborah Voigt as Minnie.[43]
In 1949, theFestival Puccini inTorre del Lago, Italy staged a new production ofLa fanciulla del West to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Puccini's death; and the opera has remained a part of the festival's rotating repertoire into the 21st century.[44] In 1950 theTeatro dell'Opera di Roma mounted the opera in a production starringMaria Caniglia as Minnie andVasco Campagnano as Johnson.[40] In 1954 sopranoEleanor Steber portrayed Minnie at a production atLa Fenice.[40]La Scala staged the opera in 1956 with tenorFranco Corelli as Johnson; a role he repeated at theTeatro di San Carlo in 1957.[40] The opera remained in La Scala's repertoire for several seasons with the role of Minnie being performed at the theatre by sopranosGigliola Frazzoni (1956–1957) andBirgit Nilsson (1958).[40] In 1958 sopranoAnny Schlemm performed the role of Minnie at theOper Frankfurt, and sopranoGerda Scheyrer sang the part at theVienna State Opera.[40]
In 1963, the opera was staged by theFujiwara Opera in Tokyo withAntonietta Stella as Minnie.[40] TheTheatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro) mounted the work in 1964 withMagda Olivero as Minnie; a role the soprano repeated at theTeatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in 1965.[40] ThePhiladelphia Lyric Opera staged the work at theAcademy of Music in 1964 under the music direction ofAnton Guadagno.[45]
TheNew York City Opera (NYCO) first presented the opera in 1977 in a production directed byFrank Corsaro withMaralin Niska as Minnie andErmanno Mauro as Dick Johnson withSergiu Comissiona conducting.[46] The NYCO unveiled a new production of the opera staged by James De Blasis in 1990 starring Linda Roark-Strummer as Minnie and Stefano Algieri as Dick Johnson.[47] The NYCO staged the opera a third time in 2005 with Stephanie Friede as Minnie, Renzo Zulian as Dick Johnson, andGeorge Manahan conducting.[48] Most recently the NYCO presented the opera in 2017 withKristin Sampson as Minnie.[49]
In 1979, theTeatro Colón performedLa fanciulla del West withPlácido Domingo as Dick Johnson.[50] In 1982 theDeutsche Oper Berlin staged the opera withGhena Dimitrova as Minnie.[51] That same year theRoyal Opera House, Covent Garden mounted a production of the opera starring Domingo andCarol Neblett which was filmed for television broadcast in the UK and the United States.[52] In 1983 theCanadian Opera Company performed the work withJohanna Meier as Minnie.[40] In 1985 theSpoleto Festival USA performed the opera with Belgian soprano Anne-Marie Antoine as Minnie.[53] In 1991 theSanta Fe Opera presented the work during its 35th season with Mary Jane Johnson as Minnie and Craig Sirianni as Dick Johnson.[54] That same yearLa Scala revived the opera withMara Zampieri, Plácido Domingo, andJuan Pons singing under the baton ofLorin Maazel; a performance which was recorded live for commercial release.[55]
An incomplete list of more recent stagings include performances at theTeatro Real (1983),[40] theLiceu (1984),[40]Arena di Verona (1986),[40]Vienna State Opera (1988 and 2013),[40][56]Lyric Opera of Chicago (1990 and 2011),[40][57]Welsh National Opera (1991),[40] theTeatro Regio Torino (1991),[40]Tulsa Opera (1991),[58] theLos Angeles Opera (1991 and 2002),[40][59]Oper Frankfurt (1992),[40]Opéra de Marseille (1993),[60] theRoyal Opera House, Covent Garden (1994 and 2005),[40][61]La Scala (1995),[40] theZürich Opera House (1998 and 2014),[62][63] theTeatro del Giglio (2000),[64] theAustin Lyric Opera (2002),[65]Seattle Opera (2004),[66]Glimmerglass Opera (2004),[66] theOpera Orchestra of New York (2004),[67] theDeutsche Oper Berlin (2006, 2015, and 2021),[68][69][70] theNew National Theatre Tokyo (2006),[69] theMelbourne Symphony Orchestra (2007),[40] theMalmö Opera (2007),[40] theOpéra de Montréal (2008),[71] theTeatro dell'Opera di Roma (2008–2009),[40] theDutch National Opera (2009),[72] theAdelaide Festival Theatre (2009),[40] theEdinburgh International Festival (2010),[73]Opera Australia (2010),[74] theMobile Opera (2013),[75] theCastleton Festival (2013),[76] theMinnesota Opera (2014)[77] theParis Opera (2014),[62]Opera Holland Park (2014),[25] theEnglish National Opera (2014),[78]Opera North (2014),[26] theVirginia Opera (2017),[79] theMichigan Opera Theatre (2017),[80] theHungarian State Opera (2018),[81] theBavarian State Opera (2019),[82] theNational Centre for the Performing Arts (China) (2019, Chinese premiere),[83] theMariinsky Theatre (2019 and 2022),[18] theBerlin State Opera (2021),[84] theSeoul Arts Center (2021, South Korea première),[85] theRomanian National Opera, Cluj-Napoca (2022),[86] theTeatro Sociale, Como (2022),[87] theTeatro Fraschini (2022),[88] and theEstonian National Opera (2022–2023).[89]
The opera was first portrayed in filmin 1915 by famed directorCecil B. DeMille, and subsequently by directorsEdwin Carewein 1923, andJohn Francis Dillon, whose1930 film was lost. A1938 film directed byRobert Z. Leonard was based not on the opera but on the original play by Belasco;Sigmund Romberg wrote songs for this film.

| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 10 December 1910 Conductor:Arturo Toscanini |
|---|---|---|
| Minnie | soprano | Emmy Destinn |
| Jack Rance,sheriff | baritone | Pasquale Amato |
| Dick Johnson alias Ramerrez,bandit | tenor | Enrico Caruso |
| Nick,bartender at the Polka saloon | tenor | Albert Reiss |
| Ashby,Wells Fargo agent | bass | Adamo Didur |
| Sonora,miner | baritone | Dinh Gilly |
| Trin,miner | tenor | Angelo Badà |
| Sid,miner | baritone | Giulio Rossi [ca] |
| Bello,[N 1]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,aRed Indian | bass | Georges Bourgeois |
| Wowkle,hissquaw | mezzo-soprano | Marie Mattfeld |
| Jake Wallace,a traveling camp minstrel | baritone | Andrés de Segurola |
| José Castro,amestizo "greaser" from Ramirez' band | bass | Edoardo Missiano |
| Pony Express rider | tenor | Lamberto Belleri |
| Men of the camp and boys of the ridge | ||
Inside the Polka Saloon
A group ofGold Rush miners enter the "Polka" saloon after a day of mining ("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, perché piangi?").
Another 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 cheat.
AWells Fargo agent, Ashby, enters and announces that he is chasing the bandit Ramerrez and his gang of Mexicans. Rance toasts Minnie, the woman 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 theBible ("Dove eravamo?").
ThePony 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 ("Ti voglio bene, Minnie").
A stranger enters the saloon and asks for a whisky and water. He introduces himself as Dick Johnson from Sacramento, 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
Minnie's servant Wowkle (a Native American woman), 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 Johnson to leave. After he leaves, 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 theGreat 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 mi creda"). 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! È Minnie! ... Non vi fu mai chi disse 'Basta!'"). 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 sets him free. The miners bid Minnie farewell ("Le tue parole sono di Dio") and Minnie and Johnson leave California to start a new life together.
La fanciulla del West is scored forpiccolo; threeflutes; threeoboes; oneEnglish horn; threeclarinets inB-flat; onebass clarinet in B-flat; threebassoons; onecontrabassoon; fourFrench horns in F; threetrumpets in F; threetenor trombones; onebass trombone; a percussion section withtimpani,cymbals, onetriangle, onesnare drum, onebass drum, and oneglockenspiel; three onstage fonicas;[a] onecelesta; twoharps; andstrings.[92]
The melody for Jake Wallace's song near the beginning of the first act is derived from two songs in a collection ofZuni melodies "recorded and harmonized" byethnomusicologistCarlos Troyer, published in 1909. Puccini had obtained that publication in an effort to find authenticNative American music for the role of Wowkle, but he ended up using it for Jake Wallace instead. (Several books about Puccini repeatMosco Carner's erroneous claim that the song is based onStephen Foster's "Old Dog Tray").[97]
A climactic phrase sung by Johnson, "E provai una gioia strana" (alternatively "Ho provato una gioia strana" in some versions of the libretto) from "Quello che tacete" near the end of the first act, is widely cited to resemble a similar phrase in the Phantom's song "The Music of the Night" inAndrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musicalThe Phantom of the Opera.[98][99][100][101] The Puccini estate sued Lloyd Webber over copyright infringement and the matter was settled out of court.[citation needed]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)