Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West
New York City Opera
Rose Theater
September 6, 2017
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| Nobody move! Minnie takes charge Photo credit: Sarah Shatz |
Where has La Fanciulla del West been all my life? It was
such an exciting and surprising discovery that I think it might be my favorite
Puccini opera to date, especially in terms of plot. Whereas he can often be too
cloyingly melodramatic, too saccharine for my taste in some of his more
canonical verismo standards, La Fanciulla, once it gets going,
tells the compelling story of an empowered woman risking life and limb to
realize her dream of true love and marital bliss. I say “once it gets going”
because like La Bohème, the first act of this proto-spaghetti western of
an opera feels on first listen a bit bogged down by exposition.
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| The Polka Bar is the heart of the community of miners Photo credit: Sarah Shatz |
Yet the first act is deceptively tight despite seeming relatively
sprawling. The libretto covers a lot of ground. Structurally it sets up for
everything that is to come. The men are are lonely. They swill their whiskey
straight and are intolerant of anyone who drinks it any other way. But they are
also suckers for mail from home and softies when it comes to a nurturing lesson
from Scripture – though they are also given to stacking the deck against the
dealer at the gambling table. All of the later plot points are all established
in this early series of tableaux that follow one right after the other.
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| The men busy themselves with drink, cards, Bible lessons Photo credit: Sarah Shatz |
A lot of this flow depends on the tempos coming out of the pit. James
Meena conducted a well-paced rendition of the score. The multifaceted
series of set pieces in the first act hurled right along. Everything clicked in
terms of narrative rhythm.
The content-rich first act then gives way to the fast-paced,
action-packed second and third acts. There are even hints of Tosca in
the story: brutal law enforcement officer lusts after the leading lady who is
also a prominent figure in her community, here she is the proprietor of the
local watering hole, and has to compete for her attentions against an outlaw, sans
the execution and suicide.
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| Minnie is beset by men from the beginning Photo credit: Sarah Shatz |
New York City Opera’s multi-partner collaboration presents a
simple, no frills, unfussy production. The staging did its job without
distracting from culminating plot points, like the big scene where Minnie robs
the sheriff of his prize by cheating at cards. The dramatic turn of events in
that climactic moment was almost cinematic in terms of its creation of
suspense. If the world of the miners and the Polka bar they haunt came to life
only in part thanks to Ivan Stefanutti’s minimal but effective set
designs, then the music coming out of the pit did more than pick up the slack.
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| Minnie scams the evil sheriff at poker Photo credit: Sarah Shatz |
In addition to buoying the suspenseful dramatic twists and turns
in the plot, the score also heightens some very emotionally moving moments,
particularly the tenor’s redemption aria in the second act and Minnie’s plea
for a reprieve for her beloved outlaw in the third.
But there were awkward moments as well. The opera is, after all,
sung in Italian and it’s full of expressions that perhaps Puccini thought would
convey an American flair (Ugh!, Hallo!, whisky, Urrah!)
that end up sounding like a spaghetti western badly translated back into
Italian. Nevertheless, a dynamic and charismatic all-male chorus did justice to
their caricatures, all things considered.
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| Johnson says his prayers before execution Photo credit: Sarah Shatz |
Jonathan Burton
leant his manly and moving tenore spinto skills to the role of the
outlaw in disguise, known variously as Johnson or Ramerrez. His Act II
climactic mini-aria in which his proclamation of love for Minnie and his
promise to change his lifestyle in accordance with that commitment was
underwritten by Burton’s heartfelt vocal surge in emotion and conviction. When
he kicked into the full-throated cry of a tenor emoting he bore it all, both
heart and soul, so that there was no doubt as to the sincerity of his
sentiments, despite his other duplicitous behavior.
Soprano Kristin Sampson played the barkeep, Minnie, as a
real go-getter but with a soft side, not unlike the all-too-similar character
played by Joan Crawford in Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar. She sang with
an almost Wagnerian might and forcefulness. But she was also tender in the
maternal moments she shares with her regular customers in their miner
community, an all around dynamic character, played with tact by Sampson.
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| Tough as nails, Minnie longs for one thing only: true love Photo credit: Sarah Shatz |
Minnie is a modern heroine for a brave new world. Such a
compelling strong no-nonsense leading lady! Nothing like those wimpy suicidal
creatures who usually inhabit the operatic stage, she is an enterprising,
independent, strong yet gracious woman who is equally at ease when teaching
Bible lessons in humane behavior to a bunch of illiterate miners, as she is
fiercely defending their hard-earned gold, dolling up for her date and cheating
at poker to save the man she loves – not to mention shootin’ ’em up, left and
right. Poom! Poom! Nobody messes with Minnie!
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| True love in the making Photo credit: Sarah Shatz |
La Fanciulla del West is
a tale of compassion and second chances – even a bandit can have a change of
heart if he meets the right girl. And they can live happily ever after walking
together into the sunset of the great American West. While conceived by an
Italian, this opera embodies the quintessential American traits of optimism,
happy endings and fierce individuality. When it’s all said and done, so unlike
Puccini’s other verismo fare. Cheesy, maybe – but refreshing, moving and
uplifting too. Again, so very American.
– Lei & Lui
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| Love is worth the gamble! |
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