Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The producer and director of this show is Giancarlo del Monaco, the son of the great tenor Mario del Monaco. The production is conservative and stunning Leonard Slatkin conducts the Met orchestra. He is very successful in producing big drama and drive, but he pays much attention to the many fine details in Puccini's expert and advanced orchestration. The Met male chorus is excellent and gives some magical moments, like their humming in the final duet of the first act.
The title role is sung by American soprano Barbara Daniels. She has a huge and beautiful voice, without any sign of shrillness or stridency. She is a terrific Minnie both in singing and acting. Placido Domingo gives a master performance of the bandit Dick Johnson. He recorded the role four times. From the musical point of view, his best recording is the studio DG recording from 1978. But Domingo is a great stage performer and actor. He is especially convincing in the portrayal of the vulnerable side of this figure. Baritone Sherril Milnes sings the villain, sheriff Jack Rance. In the seventies and early eighties he was one of the leading baritones in the world. In the early nineties his voice lost something of its power, but is still impressive in comparison to many of his younger colleagues. Like Domingo he is using his long stage experience and is an especially mean and cynical villain.
Met singers do beautifully the many minor roles. Kim Josephson is an excellent Sonora. Dwayne Croft, one of the leading Met baritones today, sings Larkens, which is a very small role.
There are three DVD versions of this opera. All feature Placido Domingo. The La scala 1991 production that is conducted by Lorin Maazel is very good, but the timbre of Mara Zampieri in the title role will not be to everyone's taste, and Juan Pons as the sheriff is not as cruel and nasty like Sherril Milnes. The 1983 Covent Garden production that is conducted by Nello Santi is wonderful too. But Carol Neblett, another impressive American soprano, sings well, but hers acting is a little wooden in comparison to Barbara Daniels.
So the new DG DVD is currently my first choice for this opera on DVD. I highly recommend it even to those who are not especially Puccini's fans. There is little of the sentimentality that dominates works like La Boheme or Madama Butterfly. Nobody dies in this opera; actually, there is a happy ending... And this opera really must be seen, not just heard: it is an impressive and effective stage experience and music drama
Click Here to see more reviews about: Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Daniels, Domingo, Milnes, Croft, Laciura, Fitch, Slatkin, Metropolitan Opera (2005)
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