Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
La fanciulla del West
Opera in Three Acts
Live recording of the series of premieres of May 2013
Minnie: Eva-Maria Westbroek
Jack Rance: Ashley Holland
Dick Johnson: Carlo Ventre
Nick: Peter Marsh
and others
Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra
Sebastian Weigle, conductor
Under the direction of Christof Loy, a new production
of Puccini’s famous gold prospectors’ drama was
presented last May in Frankfurt. OehmsClassics is
presenting the live recording of the premiere series
performed by prominent artists. The director regards
the pieces as follows: “La fanciulla del West is a very
grateful work if one encounters both the libretto
and the music with respect. If the piece is performed
ironically or broken up – as has occurred during the
course of the work’s history – then the entire evening
becomes pointless. One should repeatedly refer to the
original play by David Belasco and imagine the effect
it had as a play. Then one understands how witty and
astute these characters are. Later on, we encounter
exactly these characters in American films: very clever
people trying to overtrump the others in trenchant
dialogues as we know them from screwball comedies.
It is a great joy to produce this. Through this, the
characters are anything but grotesque operatic figures.”