La Fanciulla Del West

Plácido Domingo (Dick Johnson), Mara Zampieri (Minnie), Juan Pons (Jack Rance) & Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Lorin Maazel

Puccini's Wilde Westen-opera heeft de Californische goudkoorts als dramatisch decor voor een verhaal waarin Minnie, de enige vrouw in een mijnkamp, gokt op haar enige kans op geluk. Lorin Maazel dirigeert een prima cast in Jonathan Millers productie uit 1991 van de meeslepende en suggestieve opera, die Puccini zelf als zijn beste werk beschouwde.

Puccini:
 La fanciulla del West

PICTURE FORMAT: 4:3 / LENGTH: 144 MINS / SOUND: DOLBY SURROUND / SUBTITLES: EN

"This DVD of La fanciulla del West presents Jonathan Miller's atmospheric production for La Scala, with sets by Stefanos Lazaridis and costumes by Sue Blane. The cast is strong, and Lorin Maazel proves a warmer, more idiomatic Puccinian here than he generally was in his audio recordings for CBS/Sony. His direction makes one marvel afresh at the imagination and colour in this score, distinct from other Puccini operas in its obsession with the whole-tone scale. Miller's production takes the melodrama seriously, with realistic sets and period costumes. It even manages to bring off the improbable scene in Act 2 when Sherriff Rance finds Dick Johnson's blood dripping down from the loft of Minnie's cabin, leading to the game of poker when Minnie blatantly cheats. Though at the end Dick and Minnie get no further than the back of the stage instead of riding off into the sunset, the authentic gulp of emotion is well caught in this rare Puccini happy ending. Plácido Domingo is in superb voice, and wins ovations for each of his big solos. Juan Pons is wonderfully firm and dark of tone as Jack Rance. Though Mara Zampieri as Minnie sings with clear focus and no suspicion of a wobble, the result is often near to hooting – a strong performance, nonetheless. Camerawork is a little fussy but not too distracting. Not only is the documentation fuller than usual in DVD booklets, with a facsimile of the opera-house's cast-list on the back, it also contains a complete (if minuscule) libretto and translation."
Gramophone - Classical Music Guide 2010