Oren Gradus sang well as the minstrel Jake Wallace, although his voice was nearly lost in Giancarlo del Monaco's vast recreaton of the Polka Saloon. Dwayne Croft heads the list, taking the small role of Sonora with a rich, baritonal delivery. Luckily, the Met made good casting choices for the many smaller roles that make up the world of this opera. Gallo ran out of voice in this act, failing to cut through the ensemble texture or make himself heard over Puccini's Wagner-sized orchestra. In the last act, he turns avenging angel, seeking to hang Ramerrez/Johnson and turning brutish. He is in love (or at least in lust) with Minnie, and his obsession with the Girl proves to be his undoing in the famous Poker Scene. Gallo played Rance with a minimum of mustache-twirling. The weak link in the triangle was Lucio Gallo as the Sheriff (and main antagonist) Jack Rance. This was a touching, complex portrayal of the Romantic hero walking a narrow path between good and evil, a three-dimensional portrait instead of the usual cardboard hero. Voigt in the big Act I and Act II duets, and taking the audience on a thrilling emotional ride in his big Act III aria. He raised the opera's energy level, matching well with Ms. She was well-matched with Marcello Giordani, who scaled new heights as the bandit Ramerrez, a.k.a. Most impressive were the occasional reaches down to some surprising, firm low notes in the second act, as Minnie hides Ramerrez from the prying Sheriff. For the opera's many dialogue scenes, she adopted a flowing, conversational style. She sang her big moment with a clarion top voice and a metallic bite that never grated on the ears. Finally, it's a Western, complete with gunshots, horses and cries of "Wiski per tutti!"ĭeborah Voigt played Minnie as the rough-and-tumble warrior with a heart of gold, who truly cared about the opera's vast cast of miners and rough characters. And there's no aria for Minnie, the tituar Girl. There's a happy ending despite not being a comedy. Nobody dies onstage, although the tenor does get shot in the second act. The plot (based on a play by David Belasco) violates a number of operatic clichés.
The whole was ably conveyed by the stellar Met orchestra under the baton of Nicola Luisotti. The score contains Puccini's boldest innovations, and prefigures the experimentation of his final opera, Turandot. This vast, complex score uses folk songs, American melodies, sprechstimme and even moments of atonality. Happily, the cast rose to the historic occasion.įanciulla remains the unruly problem child among Puccini's operas, a role it has enjoyed for a century. 10, the Met celebrated the 100th anniversary of that premiere with the second performance of this season's revival. 10, 1910, Giacomo Puccini's La Fanciulla del West ( The Girl of the Golden West) had its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera.
In La Fanciulla del West. Photo by Ken Howard © 2010 The Metropolitan Opera Dancin' at the Polka: Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani and Lucio Gallo