Giacomo Puccini: La fanciulla del West

Actors:

Barbara Daniels... Minnie

Sherrill Milnes... Jack Rance

Placido Domingo... Dick Johnson

Anthony Laciura... Nick

Julien Robbins... Ashby

Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

Artistic Director: James Levine

The production provides plenty of dramatic contrast while it nicely captures the Wild West setting. The whole thing works exceptionally well, and is ultimately no more silly than any number of Verdi’s operas. This is rendered all the more realistic by a cast which I cannot imagine being surpassed. Barbara Daniels may not have the big or luscious soprano voice characteristic of the great Puccini sopranos, past and present (think Tebaldi, Price, Gheorghiu), but she immerses herself so completely into the dramatic aspects of her role that any vocal shortcomings are quickly forgotten. Domingo is fantastic in a role that is quite ideal for him, lying vocally somewhere between Rodolfo and Calaf.