Tag Archives: La Fanciulla Del West
La Fanciulla Del West – Vienna 2013
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th April 2022In 2013 The Vienna Staatsoper presented a production of Puccini’s western opera. The full cast is below. Musically it was a terrific performance, especially noteworthy was Jonas Kaufmann’s impersonation of the the reluctant robber turned ardent lover. But Marco Arturo Morelli’s production was like a bad version of a Tom Mix silent movie. The acting…
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La Fanciulla Del West in HD 2018 – Great
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th October 2018Wagner ‘s goal was to write opera that consisted of endless melody. I don’t think he reached that goal, but Puccini did in La Fanciulla Del West. Saturday’s performance, the last of seven of this season’s run at the Met, was a spectacular success. Puccini’s luminous score received a dazzling reading by the Met’s orchestra,…
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La Fanciulla Del West in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th July 2016Puccini never wrote anything like the first act of La Fanciulla Del West. Its melodic weave which moves from orchestra to voice and back again owes a lot to Debussy, though its author is clearly Puccini. To an audience familiar with his previous four operas, this type of operatic writing was off putting and confusing which…
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The Girl of the Golden West in Omaha
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th January 2016Next February 12 and 14 Opera Omaha will stage Puccini’s real spaghetti western The Girl of the Golden West – aka La Fanciulla del West. The cast is below. Asterisk indicates company debut. Lee Bisset, Minnie* Michael Mayes, Jack Rance* Matthew Treviño, Ashby Elise Quagliata, Wowkle Branch Fields, Jim Larkens / Billy Jack Rabbit* Joshua…
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La Fanciulla Del West from the Met 1992
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th May 2014Defunct Met video Added June 15, 2014 – So this YouTube video is also gone. Instead, listen to this performance from 1954. It’s in the public domain and thus will be around for a while. It features Eleanor Steber (Minnie), Gian Giacomo Guefi (Jack Rance), Mario Del Monaco (Dick Johnson), and Dimitri Mitropoulos (conductor). It…
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La Fanciulla Del West – Vienna 2013
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th May 2014Below is a YouTube video of a complete performance of Puccini’s La Fanciulla Del West performed on October 5, 2013 at the Vienna State Opera. As these videos have a way of disappearing because of copyright issues I’ve also added two sound files of the tenor arias from the opera sung by Jonas Kaufmann from…
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Jonas Kaufmann – Ch’ella mi creda
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th October 2013The second tenor aria from Jonas Kaufmann’s first try at Puccini’s La Fanciulla Del West is now also available. Ch’ella mi creda is the better known of the two. Again Kaufmann show the intense feeling he has for the words he sings. Another bravura performance. The venue was the Staatsoper in Vienna – Oct 5,…
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Jonas Kaufmann – Or son sei mesi
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 6th October 2013If you need more evidence that Jonas Kaufmann is decibel for decibel the best tenor currently active this video from yesterday’s performance of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West provides it. “Or son sei mesi” is in the second act and is the first of the tenor’s two aria. Kaufmann’s brilliant phrasing and his blaze of…
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La Fanciulla Del West in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th January 2011Puccini’s La Fanciulla Del West does not enjoy the popularity of the rest of the composer’s mature works. It never will. It’s a wonderful piece that utilizes the orchestra to a greater degree than any other of Puccini’s operas. The orchestral writing is magical. One great melody follows another; they come and go in total sync with…
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Who Can Sing Fanciulla?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th December 2010After listening to the broadcast from the Met of Puccini’s La Fanciulla Del West last night, I asked myself who can sing the two principal roles in the opera? Certainly not the two who performed them yesterday. Deborah Voigt in the title role sounded like she was on leave from the old folks home, while…
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