A Difficult Score
The new
critical edition of
Puccini's 'La Fanciulla del West',
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
Puccini's 'La Fanciulla del West',
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
There was a
rather special world premiere at
La Scala on 3 May: a
well known opera, Puccini's La
Fanciulla del West in its recently published critical
edition. M&V has often
reviewed La Fanciulla del West, especially on the occasion of the centenary of its
opening ('Eyes Tight Shut', 22
July 2010 and 'A Marvellous Job', 29
December 2010).
The world
premiere took place in the huge Metropolitan Opera House in West
34th Street, New York on 10
December 1910. The theatre was packed;
critics had come
from all over the USA and, by
transatlantic liners, from Europe (including
some from very distant Australia). Arturo Toscanini was in the
pit; Enrico Caruso, Emmy Destinn
and Pasquale Amato sang the leads. Giacomo Puccini, alone in
his box, surveyed the scene. That is,
until the end of Act I, when the composer and cast appeared on
stage for fourteen curtain calls. Similar pandemonium broke out at the end of
the other two acts. The opera had been commissioned by the Met from one of
the most famous composers of the
time. In turn, Puccini (and the authors of the libretto, Guelfo
Civinni and Carlo Zangarini) had molded it to the great vocal capabilities of
the three protagonists as well as
of the fifteen singers in minor
roles and to the ability of the Met orchestra. The opera
itself was based on a very successful American play on Broadway: David Belasco's The Girl from the
Golden West. Nonetheless, the opera as performed in 1910 had been altered by Arturo Toscanini — a real
tyrant. Since then, the 'reference version' has been
the 10 December 1910 version, viz Puccini as revised by Toscanini. A new
critical edition reveals that the modifications are essentially: a) the
cancellation of a duettino between the protagonist, Minnie,
and a young Indian; b) a cut
of some one hundred bars in the first act during the infighting among the
miners; and c) a simplification of the orchestration. This last
is the most important alteration
of Puccini's own writing.
 Barbara Haveman as Minnie and the miners in Act I of 'La Fanciulla del West' at La Scala. Photo © 2016 Brescia e Amisano. Click on the image for higher resolution |
La Scala's
project to present La Fanciulla del West just as Puccini had composed it had to
be modified at the last minute, however, because the main singer, Eva-Maria
Westbroek had very bad flu. She was replaced by Barbara Haveman, who had sung the role in
Frankfurt — only a
few sopranos have it in
their repertory. She had to
debut at La Scala without rehearsing and not being familiar with the
quite peculiar house acoustics. Thus, the
duettino could not be included in the 3 May performance I attended,
but the miners brawl was as written by Puccini, and the composer's original
orchestration was maintained.
 Barbara Haveman as Minnie and Claudio Sgura as Jack in Act II of 'La Fanciulla del West' at La Scala. Photo © 2016 Brescia e Amisano. Click on the image for higher resolution |
The stage direction is
entrusted to Robert Carsen and his
frequent team of collaborators (Luis Carvalho for sets, Petra
Reinhardt for costumes and Peter
van Praet for lighting). The action, taking
into account Puccini's interest in the seventh art, ie cinema, is in rigorous
black and white but includes a vision of the Californian red desert
in the first act. During the orchestral introduction, there is
the projection of a silent Western movie taking
place in a movie theatre; then the theatre auditorium becomes
Minnie's tavern. In the final scene, the forest where Dick is about to be
hanged is transformed into the outside entrance to the movie theatre, with
Minnie in Hollywood star attire
and Dick dressed as Clark Gable. Some of the upper tier audience made it clear they did
not appreciate this.
 Roberto Aronica as Dick and Barbara Haveman as Minnie in Act II of 'La Fanciulla del West' at La Scala. Photo © 2016 Brescia e Amisano. Click on the image for higher resolution |
On the
musical front, Riccardo Chailly, a Puccini
fan, and the orchestra showed the modernity and the intricacies of a very difficult score. As
underlined in a recent review of the 1918 opera Il Trittico ('In Two Parts', 21 April
2016), in La Fanciulla del West, Puccini was already far away from verismo
(where he is often classified) and travelling towards the second Viennese school and
expressionism. Chailly was so enthusiastic, however,
that in the final part of the first act, he did not keep the right balance between pit
and stage, and covered the voices.
 Claudio Sgura as Jack and the miners in Act III of 'La Fanciulla del West' at La Scala. Photo © 2016 Brescia e Amisano. Click on the image for higher resolution |
As for the
singers, the fifteen minor roles were absolutely excellent. Barbara Haveman was
very brave in saving the performance; she has a Wagnerian voice but
exceeded in vibrato. Roberto
Aronica was the good and generous tenor one expects
in Dick's role. Claudio Sgura was an effective sheriff.
Copyright © 7 May 2016 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
Rome, Italy
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