Product Description

La Fanciulla del West, Puccini's penultimate opera is based on a play by David Belasco set at the height of the notorious California gold rush. The composer took three years to complete the work, which, for him, marked a new stylish departure. With more modern harmonic combinations and local melodies, Puccini pieced together a far larger canvas than anything he had tackled before. In this recording, Piero Faggioni's highly detailed staging is matched by Ken Adam's superbly atmospheric sets. Carol Neblett sings the role of Minnie "The Girl of the Gold West," Placido Domingo is as ignitable as ever in the role of Dick Johnson, alias the bandit, Ramirez, and Silvano Carroli sings the sinister sheriff, Jack Rance. Conducted by Nello Santi.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81195 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-11-18
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 140 minutes

Amazon.com
This 1983 Royal Opera Covent Garden production looks right and Plácido Domingo sounds right. So do the chorus and orchestra, though they could have been subtler here and there. Silvano Carroli makes a superbly villainous sheriff. Carol Neblett looks good and acts reasonably well as Minnie, the amiable barmaid and surrogate mother to a camp full of lonely minors. Unfortunately, her voice is not quite competitive with that of Mara Zampieri, who shared the La Scala production with Domingo nine years later.

Those who prefer this Fanciulla will probably be attracted by Domingo's youthful vitality, but the whole production is quite attractive if one makes allowance for Neblett's tonal shortcomings. The music has color and subtlety, and the story will bring nostalgia attacks to anyone who spent childhood Saturday afternoons nibbling popcorn and watching horsemen in 10-gallon hats galloping across the screen. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews

I'm In The Minority Here
Overall I loved this performance, especially the performances of Domingo and Neblett. Yes, she may have been overtaxed in the role at times, but for me the chemistry between the two of them was wonderful. He with a soft edged machismo and she as the tough woman in the wild west but with an obvious feminine side. I found both the characters very believable. Carolli was acceptable but not great. Wish it had been Milnes as in the recording on the DGG CD. The production values are good but the age of this recording shows. It definitely does not have the sharpness of more modern recordings. I've not seen the La Scala DVD mentioned here but I've heard it on CD and while Domingo is as good as always, I find Zampieri's voice just plain ugly.

An Interesting Second La Fanciulla
If you only want to own one DVD of La Fanciulla, then the La Scala production is clearly the one to buy. If nothing else, its cinematography is vastly superior to this Covent Garden production, and its sound recording is better, too. But for those of us who can't get too much Puccini, this production makes for an interesting exercise in compare and contrast.

The two productions are similar in terms of the stature of the principal singers, the orchestra and chorus (which is very important in La Fanciulla), and the sets and costumes. This Royal Opera production is, as far as I can tell, the only DVD opera that features Carol Neblett. It's of interest, therefore, if only to see her portray Minnie, one of her signature roles. Also interesting are some of the decisions the director made in this production. It is played with very broad gestures -- Silvano Carroli, for example, plays Jack Rance as a swaggering Snidely Whiplash. He and Neblett wrestle several times as he attempts to impose his affections on her and she resists. Juan Pons and Mara Zampieri are restrained by comparison at La Scala. Placido Domingo plays Johnson/Ramirez in both productions, so you can see how his interpretation changes over time and in response to the different direction. He too has toned it down a bit in the later production.

Somewhat amusingly, this production is at times politically incorrect, as in Act 1 when it repeatedly has Indians stealing whiskey when the white man turns his back. And Gwynne Howell turns up as Jake Wallace wearing blackface! I guess that's what you get when you have a British opera company in 1983 interpreting how an Italian composer in 1910 portrayed California in the 1850's.

Old-Fashioned Night at the Opera
This "Fancuilla" is a bit of a mixed bag, an old-fashioned, no frills production, conducted and directed moderately well. Neblett, singing a signature role, is a bit melodramatic at times, and hits some of her high notes by force of sheer will. A not particularly pretty sound. Domingo, on the other hand, is magnificent. Dashing in appearance, passionate and sexy, he sings gloriously throughout. The DVD's overall sound is not all that good -- it was filmed, after all, way before the digital age. That said, I'm enjoying it very much, and can see myself happily pulling it out whenever I need a comforting Puccini/Domingo fix. This is a favorite opera of mine, and I'm not at all unhappy with the purchase.