| La Fanciulla del West |
| La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) is the original spaghetti western. Puccini was confident it would be a success to match La Boheme, but despite the composer's unflagging popularity, Fanciulla never really caught on. This is a shame, really, for despite its lack of hit tunes, the score is among Puccini's most inventive and, for those who find tragic endings too much to bear, the lovers do get to ride off into the sunset together. Maria Zampieri may not be the most feminine Minnie, but then again, Minnie is not the most feminine of Puccini's heroines. Zampieri emphasizes Minnie's brassiness and strength of character over her vulnerability, convincingly demonstrating how a single woman could hold together a ragtag community of unruly gold miners. - Source |
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| Roles Minnie soprano Jack Rance, sheriff baritone Dick Johnson/Ramirez, bandit tenor Nick, bartender at the Polka saloon tenor Ashby, Wells Fargo agent bass Sonora, miner baritone Trin, miner tenor Sid, miner baritone Handsome, miner baritone |
| Act 1 - Introduction
Act 1 - Hello ... Nick! xx Act 1 - Che faranno i vecchi miei In a field of miners in California. We are on the 'Polka', the tavern run by ...Minnie, of which all are in love but that "the first kiss should still give" ...the men play cards, are taken by melancholy Act 1 - Jim, perchè piangi? xx Act 1 - Andiam, ragazzi xx Act 1 - Un poker? Nick, gettoni! xx Act 1 - Mrs Rance, fra poco xx Act 1 - Hello, Minnie! xx Act 1 - Dove eravamo? Sheriff Rance and Sonora will fight for the love of Minnie. The girl arrives and makes reading the Bible for miners Act 1 - La posta! La posta! xx Act 1 - Ti voglio bene, Minnie xx Act 1 - Minnie, dalla mia casa son partito Jack Rance pours his heart out to Minnie, saying that no one loved him before he left his birthplace and he loved no one. Now ... he would give the world for just one kiss from her./ Libreto Act 1 - Laggiù nel Soledad After Jack Rance has told him that he loves her, Minnie replies that she needs nothing from him ...Besides, she wouldn't take a husband unless she loved him as he loved her./ Libreto Act 1 - Chi c'è per farmi i rici? xx Act 1 - Vi recordate di me? xx Act 1 - Mister Johnson, voi m'avete seccato! xx Act 1 - Mister Johnson, un valzer? xx Act 1 - Mister Johnson, siete rimasto indietro xx Act 1 - Io non son che una povera fanciulla xx Act 1 - Quello che tacete ...the miners leave...to chase the bandit Ramerrez; left alone, the two declare their love Act 1 - Come voi leggermi in cor non so xx Act 1 - Ah, non temete, nessuno ardirà xx Act 2 - Il mio bimbo è grande e piccin xx Act 2 - Billy, è fissato? xx Act 2 - Voglio vestirmi tutta xx Act 2 - Oh, se sapeste Dick Johnson has come for supper. He mentions that it must be somewhat lonely up in the hills at Minnie's cabin. She responds ...She finds joy, peace, and excitement in the natural beauty of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the meadows and valleys that lie in-between them./ Libreto Act 2 - Ugh! ... Neve! xx Act 2 - Hello! xx Act 2 - Vieni fuori! xx Act 2 - ...Io so, Io so! Ma non vi avrei rubato! xx Act 2 - L'han ferito ... Che importa xx Act 2 - Che c'è di nuovo, Jack? xx Act 2 - E là! E là! xx Act 2 - Or son sei mesi Minnie has found out that Johnson is really a bandit named Ramerrez. Angrily she wants to know why he came to her cabin. He responds that he came to rob her but ... After seeing Minnie, he no longer wants to be a thief. Act 3 - Ve lo giuro, sceriffo xx Act 3 - Maledetto cane! xx Act 3 - Ah! Ah! Ah! xx Act 3 - Sceriffo Rance! xx Act 3 - E così, Mister Johnson, come va? xx Act 3 - Risparmiate lo scherno xx Act 3 - Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano Johnson is about to executed for his crimes committed as Ramerrez. He explains his final wish passionately : that Minnie think that he was freed and never know that his actual fate./ Libretto Act 3 - Ah-Ah-Ah! xx Act 3 - Basta!'quando per voi xx Act 3 - E anche tu lo vorrai Minnie comes and asks the man's life for miners, recalling the hardships and cares split with them. Moved, the men grant pardon to Johnson, who departs with Minnie to live a new life honest and peaceful. Act 3 - Le tue parole sono di Dio xx |
| Harry, miner tenor Joe, miner tenor Happy, miner baritone Jim Larkens, miner bass Billy Jackrabbit, a Red Indian bass Wowkle, his squaw mezzo-soprano Jake Wallace, a traveling camp minstrel baritone José Castro, a "greaser", from Ramirez' band bass The Pony Express rider tenor Men of the camp and boys of the ridge |