Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Giacomo Puccini’s gun-slinging heroine in this romantic epic of the Wild West, alongside star tenor Jonas Kaufmann in the role of the outlaw Dick Johnson. Baritone Zeljko Lucic is the vigilante sheriff Jack Rance.
Puccini’s “American” opera, based on David Belasco’s play The Girl of the Golden West, had its glamorous and highly publicized 1910 world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, with the composer in the audience.
The drama is set during the California Gold Rush, and the girl of the title is one of Puccini’s most appealing heroines – a strong, independent woman determined to win the man she loves. Although it fell out of favor with audiences for a few decades following its original success, La Fanciulla del West has rebounded in popularity in recent years and is now counted among Puccini’s best works.
