Customer Reviews

Puccini - La Fanciulla Del West

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The editorial review on these pages doesn't do La Fanciulla Del West justice. This is an opera on the same scale of achievement as La Boheme or Tosca. In many ways it contains the best elements of both those operas: the tenderness and human frailty of Boheme, and the dramatic pulse of Tosca. Furthermore, it was Puccini's most innovative and daring score to date, and listening to it today one is struck by how "modern" this 1910 opera sounds.

The opera's Wild West setting is often sneered at, but it is no more ridiculous than the locale of the vast majority of operas. All that is required to enjoy this opera is a full-blooded sense of romanticism. Some listeners are disappointed at the lack of saccharine in Puccini's music (especially compared to the Big Three of Boheme, Tosca and Madama Butterfly), but in many ways La Fanciulla is all the more satisfying for its sparer melodic invention, and emphasis on music that underlines the dramatic goings-on rather than overdosing on the more "commercial tunes" of Puccini's earlier work. That's not to say there aren't crowd-pleasers in this opera - the tenor's Ch'ella Mi Creda is proof of that. But for the most part, the arias in this opera are so thoroughly integrated into the action that they don't stand out as discrete numbers to the first-time listener.

Don't get me wrong, though - this IS a highly melodic opera, with scenes and arias as memorable as anything Puccini ever wrote. Jack Rance's Minnie Dalla Mia Casa, and Dick Johnson's dramatic Or Son Sei Mesi (which brings down the house in this performance) represent Puccini at his best. But often it is a phrase or a reflective moment in the score that leaves the greatest impression, such as when Dick Johnson looks at Minnie and sings almost conversationally: "When I look at you, I realise what I might have been." In such moments Puccini achieves the kind of musical "truth" that makes the listener say: "Yes, this is real life, or at least, life as it should be." As always with Puccini, his characterisations are fully three-dimensional, and indeed, the only thing preventing this opera from enjoying wider acclaim is that so little of its music can be readily "lifted" from the score in excerpt form.

I have loved La Fanciulla since the age of 20, when I was lucky enough to see (and meet) Domingo at Covent Garden in November 1982. I saw two performances of the opera; on alternate nights Domingo was partnered by Carol Neblett and Marilyn Zschau. Unfortunately it was the lesser Neblett version that was first released on video - good though she was, her poor diction and whitish timbre grated, and the performance lacked fire in the orchestral and choral departments. This is an opera that requires in the role of Minnie a soprano with stentorian power, great top notes AND a beautiful timbre. A tall order, perhaps, but one which Mara Zampieri comes close to achieving in this 1991 production from La Scala.

Zampieri has an unusual voice. Her timbre will not be to all tastes, I suspect, but I enjoyed her singing very much, notwithstanding several moments of suspect intonation. She doesn't QUITE reach the standard set by Barbara Daniel in the latter's definitive 1992 portrayal at the Met (also with Domingo, and available on video), but this is pretty satisfying nonetheless.

Domingo, at the age of fifty, sounds almost as fresh as he did in the Covent Garden production, and if anything his high B Flats are freer in the celebrated Ch'ella Mi Creda than they were nine years earlier. He acts extremely well, and for my money this is his defining role (much more so than Otello), and his well-documented love for the role is abundantly obvious.

Juan Pons is the most sympathetic Sheriff Rance that I have yet seen. His voice lends itself towards sympathy with its warm timbre reminiscent of a well-aged port. It's not an overly resonant voice - nor even a particularly large and powerful instrument - but I found his Jack Rance a thoroughly believable characterisation. (Interested viewers will no doubt want to compare Pons' performance with the much more malevolent Sherill Milnes interpretation in the 1992 Met production. Both have a lot going for them.)

The chorus act well, but vocally need more cohesion and fire at several crucial moments - the capture of Dick Johnson's henchman in Act 1, and the capture of Johnson himself in Act 3, for example - and were noticeably off-key on a couple of occasions. Having said that, they certainly look the part of tough miners, and ultimately their lapses are relatively minor.

Among the supporting cast, special praise should go to Antonio Salvadori in the role of Sonora. His baritone voice gives Juan Pons a run for his money, and furthermore he acts brilliantly, giving an often overlooked role genuine significance and pathos. Great stuff.

Conductor Lorin Maazel employs unusually slow tempi throughout. I had mixed feelings about his approach, though he does bring out beautiful aspects of the score that I had never detected before. The card scene in Act 2 is riveting in its intensity, and Johnson's walk to the scaffold in Act 3 has never sounded more dramatic.

The DVD has excellent sound and visuals. True, Act 2 is rather dark, but this only adds to the atmosphere. Besides, log cabins in the Wild West should look dark!

Highly recommended.

Domingo and Zampieri outdo themselves with thrilling tone and dramatic intensity. Another all out performance. They sing as if their lives were in peril. Her card scene with POns is electrifying. Small roles are all movingly done and there are many of them in Puccini's most ambitous score. Newcomers to this work will need patience but they will be well rewarded. Probably not mmore difficult than "Turandot" but "Fanciulla" doesn't have a "Nessun dorma" or "Questa reggia" but in these hands it is thrilling. Give a listen you won't be sorry. Another jewel in La Scala's crown.

"The Girl Of The Golden West" can often seem a rather silly opera, and it is generally regarded as one of Puccini's second tier works. But this production is so superb that one wonders why it isn't performed as often as Tosca or La Boheme! With terrific acting and singing, this is the best DVD I've seen in this series. Unmissable!

Thanks to this version of "la fanciulla del west" I found out that this opera is one of Puccini's master works. Can be compared with Boheme or Tosca.
Domingo is in wonderful voice and acting.
Zampieri very good, and Pons almost as good as Domingo. Not to mention Maazel who does a wonderful work with the orchestra.
Take my word an try this version. You will end up loving "la fanciulla".

Zampieri is breathtaking (also her acting), why doesn't she record more? The whole production is very convincing dramatically - the singing is unparalleld.Very good technically.

I'm in the minority here. Everything about this production is fine, especially Domingo, except for Zempieri who has the ugliest voice in opera in my humble opinion. Either you like her or you don't! I recommend the Met version of this opera first and Covent Garden's production with Neblett second. I have them all and only watch the Met version repeatedly. Zempieri also ruined the video of MacBeth for me as well. Just a matter of taste.

This is an excellent staging of this opera bringing all of its charms to life. Domingo captures the western bravado well in his character.

Mara Zampieri, is the worst singer I have ever heard on the La Scala stage in a Dvd production. I am not being bitter and spiteful, she simply ruins it. I have watched the show with freinds, and we have to stop, because Zampieri seems like a bad joke. The tone is very very thin and shrill. The vibrato has no vibration, wooden with no roundness. The singing is sharp here and flat there, and in most incidental singing there is no spin at all. I can barely watch aby of it, and It spoils a great production. What is really weird, is that she is a first class actress, and and creates a fabulous picture of Minnie... oh well
To proceed, Juan Pons is a fabuous Rance. His Rance has a bit of Tonio in him. Big, ugly deformed, lonely, and sympathetic. This is not your gun slinging, tobacco chewig rance, this is your selfish, hurt and twisted rance. I always enjoy Pons and his charachterizations and his yelly and unique voice.
Domingo owns this part, and will own it until he finally retires (he has not yet taken it from his rep and it will most likley be the last Italian verismo part he gives up.) His tone is just a strong as it was 9 years ago and one year later, and there is little to say. His the great ramirez head to toe.
I could not help notice that between the two dvd Fanciullas this one seems to have the weaker supporting cast, but that is mere speculation
If you are buying this production, dont say you weren't warned about Zampieri.

I've had this dvd for several years and tried to watch it a couple of times. The sound quality in Act I is very poor, with the miners' heavy boots a major distraction, and I was so irritated I never watched the whole performance. I'd suggest turning your subwoofer way down. However, my wife and I saw the recent production at the Met and loved it, despite the interminable intermissions needed to strike the elaborate sets. When I got home I looked at Acts II and II on this and found them quite good, with Domingo (of course) doing a wonderful job. I don't have the quarrel with Zampieri that others do, and Pons was excellent.

It's hard to find anything to dislike about any Puccini opera. "The Girl of the Golden West" (La Fanciulla del West) is another Puccini opera, full of rich music, verismo drama, and a great setting.
At first I couldn't imagine how a bunch of American cowboys speaking Italian could result in a memorable Puccini opera, but it does.

For me it would have been worth buying this DVD just to hear Placido Domingo at his best, and singing the beautiful arias of Puccini that Domingo's voice shows off to their best. But there's also Juan Pons as Rance, the sheriff, who plays the villain to Domingo's Dick Johnson.

Some have complained about Mara Zampieri as Minnie. Yes, I'll agree that of the three stars, she is the least strong--but not a weak link. She turns in a good but not inspiring performance. I hate to inject an issue of age, but a younger Minnie would have worked better. Still, the costumes and scenery are very authentic looking, and with Pons and Domingo making Puccini's music shine, you're in for a treat as you visit the "Old West" of a California mining town.