La Fanciulla del West, Metropolitan Opera HD Live, Jan. 8 2011

Our local theater was fuller than expected when I arrived an hour before curtain time—I had to sit a row up from my usual spot. At curtain time, most of the seats up from the crossover aisle were occupied. Not bad for a opera that my father described as “second-rate Puccini.” But there were incentives: not only Deborah Voigt and Marcello Giordani as Minnie and Dick Johnson, but in the pit was our own Nicola Luisotti, who is making a considerable splash at San Francisco Opera as a Verdi and Puccini conductor.

San Francisco presented Fanciulla about 6 months ago; New York’s worked better. Act 1 is the whole interior of the Polka Saloon, with a big bar on the left, a wall with dirty windows on the right, and a roof overhead. (San Francisco’s was more “open air,” with a smaller bar on the left, a staircase to the right, and the rest open to the elements with a rock face in back.) In Act 2 we see the interior of Minnie’s cabin, thanks to a missing wall, but again we get a roof. Johnson gets to hide in the attic, courtesy of a pull-down staircase, rather than just climbing up the side of Minnie’s bed. Act 3 takes place on the Main Street of a Western town familiar to movie-goers, rather than in a canyon in the mountains, where the noose dangles from a skyhook.

The singers and conductor made a strong argument for this less-performed opera. Particularly impressive was Deborah Voigt’s entrance in Act 1 to break up the brawl in her saloon. She fired a rifle using real blanks, judging from the flash emanating from the muzzle, and took charge of the stage. The poker game with Jack Rance at the end of Act 2 is always a winner, with the soft drumbeats (echoes of Madama Butterfly?) turning the screws of tension. The finale of Act 3, with Minnie pleading for Johnson’s life, and Sonora maintaining that acceding to her wishes would be the best way to repay her for all that she has done for her “boys,” was surprisingly moving.

The cast:
Minnie: Deborah Voigt
Dick Johnson: Marcello Giordani
Jack Rance: Lucio Gallo
Ashby: Keith Miller
Sonora: Dwayne Croft
Wowkle: Ginger Costa-Jackson
Conductor: Nicola Luisotti
Everyone sang well, but I continue to be particularly impressed with Keith Miller and his sonorous bass voice, and hope to hear him in larger parts. Overall, my best Fanciulla yet—a very solid beta.