LISTEN: La Fanciulla del West

A bad experience with an opera can put you off it for life. That's what happened to me with Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West). I first encountered it in the 1958 London Records recording with Renata Tebaldi (Minnie), Mario Del Monaco (Dick Johnson aka Ramerrez), and Cornell MacNeil (Jack Rance), conducted by Franco Capuana. The smaller parts were sung by stalwarts such as Piero de Palma, Giorgio Tozzi, and others. All three main singers were at the height of their powers, but Capuana was reliable and dull. And therein may be the problem. The entire performance seems uninspired and certainly not engaging. The passion between Minnie and Ramerrez is non-existent, or so muted as to be hardly noticed. The overall effect was simply forgettable.

And that's what I did, simply forgot about it until the Met did a live in HD broadcast with Deborah Voight, Marcello Giordani, and Lucio Gallo, conducted by Nicola Luisotti. The 1991 production was designed by Giancarlo del Monaco, son of Mario. Here, the main problem involved the singers. Less than stellar in these roles, they walked through the performance, often seemingly unaware that they were supposed to be interacting with each other. The overly realistic sets and costumes distracted from rather than enhanced the music and storytelling, and did nothing to probe the psychology of the characters. Once again, I decided this was forgettable Puccini.

Then...One day last week I was listening to my favorite internet radio station, Otto All Opera, and heard something so riveting I had to stay put until it was over. Here was a performance from the Florence Maggio Musicale of Fanciulla. Recorded live on June 15, 1954, with Eleanor Steber, Mario del Monaco, and Gian Giacomo Guelfi. What a difference! Steber is so intense, and del Monaco seems only to have needed an audience to come to life and the bandit. But the main difference is the conducting of Dmitri Mitropoulos, who propelled the action without rushing it, lingered over the tender moments, and let the singers find their character's inner beings.

I immediately went to Amazon.com and ordered a copy. The sound is typical (pirated?) 1950s sound. The beginning is problematic and distant, but it gets better. There is no libretto, just a plot synopsis and cast biographies. And, as with all these kinds of recording, it's the performances that are the reason for getting and listening to them. I've always loved Steber's voice, since I first heard her singing Samuel Barber's concerto for soprano and orchestra, Knoxville: Summer of 1915, which she commissioned. Del Monaco is always loud or, when needed, even louder, but he's wonderful. I've never heard Guelfi before, and don't recognize the name, but he's a fine Italianate baritone, and a terrific Jack Rance.

It's great to have a new opera in the listening queue, and really wonderful to have one that I'd dismissed and found again.