SAN FRANCISCO OPERA PREMIERES NEW PRODUCTION
OF
PUCCINI’S LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST)
JUNE 9–JULY 2, 2010 AT THE WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE
DEBORAH VOIGT, SALVATORE LICITRA AND ROBERTO FRONALI STAR IN
100TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCES CONDUCTED BY NICOLA LUISOTTI
Co-Production preseNted in PARTNERSHIP WITH
Fondazione Teatro Massimo di Palermo and OpÉra Royal de Wallonie
SAN FRANCISCO, April 13, 2010—This summer, San Francisco Opera celebrates the 100th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini’s Wild-West opera La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) with the premiere of a new co-production with Italy’s Fondazione Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Belgium’s Opéra Royal de Wallonie. These performances will feature soprano Deborah Voigt in her role debut as Minnie; the San Francisco Opera debut of tenor Salvatore Licitra in his role debut as the bandit Dick Johnson; and baritone Roberto Frontali as Sheriff Jack Rance.
San Francisco opera will host a gala based on this opera: Sundown at the Golden West Saloon
Based on San Franciscan's play
This opera comes from the play written by San Franciscan David Belasco. You can find the book with six of his plays including Madame Butterfly at the main library in San Francisco although it's on my desk right now.
The play contains some ridiculous melodramatic lines that would be seen as satire or read straight, as racist or bigoted so it makes for some entertaining and quick reading. Belasco based the play on a real person and he refers to real places like Monterey and Sacramento. One of the main characters encounters another on the road between the two and that's where they first become smitten with each other.
At the risk of giving you some plot spoilers, here are a few favorite lines from the play.
Then you went on that trip to Sacramento and Monterey and you changed . . . Who’s the man? (page 334)
The San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus will be conducted by San Francisco Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti, and Lorenzo Mariani makes his Company debut directing this new production. The creative team also includes scenic designer Maurizio Balò, costume designer Gabriel Berry and lighting designer Duane Schuler. La Fanciulla del West is presented in eight performances from June 9–July 2. San Francisco Opera’s complete 2010 Summer Season runs June 5–July 2 at the historic War Memorial Opera House and also features Charles François Gounod’s Faust and Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre.
This new production of La Fanciulla del West marks the first collaboration between San Francisco Opera and Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, which will present the opera in December 2010 with Salvatore Licitra and Roberto Frontali reprising their roles. The sets, designed by Maurizio Balò and constructed in Sicily, are currently being shipped to San Francisco via New York City. Lorenzo Mariani, who directs this new production both in its San Francisco premiere and in later performances in Palermo, serves as artistic director of Teatro Massimo.
San Francisco Opera is leading the way as the first North American opera company to present La Fanciulla del West in its centennial year. Future 2010–11 productions at the Metropolitan Opera (December 2010) and Lyric Opera of Chicago (January 2011) will also star soprano Deborah Voigt as the iconic character Minnie. Maestro Nicola Luisotti, who will be on the podium for seven of San Francisco Opera’s Summer 2010 performances, will also conduct the work at the Metropolitan Opera, including a performance on December 10, 2010—the exact centennial of the day the work received its world premiere at the Met, conducted by the legendary Arturo Toscanini.
Presenting this seldom-performed opera, last seen at San Francisco Opera in 1979, is part of San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley’s ongoing initiative to present Puccini’s lesser-known operatic gems. Other recent San Francisco Opera presentations of obscure Puccini works include 2007’s La Rondine starring Angela Gheorgiu and 2009’s complete production of Il Trittico starring Patricia Racette. “It has long been a desire of mine to shine light on some of Puccini’s rarely-performed operas. I am very happy to be partnering with Teatro Massimo and Royal Opera of Wallonia to bring La Fanciulla del West to San Francisco Opera for the first time in three decades and to present this work with the masterful Nicola Luisotti on the podium.”
A love triangle set during the California Gold Rush, La Fanciulla del West returns to San Francisco for the first time in three decades in celebration of its centennial year. Based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by San Francisco native David Belasco, the libretto for Puccini’s opera was written by Guelfo Civinini and Carol Zangarini. The son of a miner and the author of the play that inspired another of Puccini’s most popular operas (Madama Butterfly), Belasco captures the spirit of Gold Rush–era California complete with a Wild-West saloon, a high-stakes poker game, a Wells Fargo agent and a beautiful, pistol-packing barkeep named Minnie. The author described his play as “a drama of love against a dark and vast background of primitive characters and untrammeled nature.”
Among his many musical compositions, Giacomo Puccini considered La Fanciulla del West to be the best opera he ever wrote. While watching a performance of Belasco’s play in New York City, Puccini was struck with compassion for the play’s central character, Minnie, and decided that she would be the subject of his next opera. He later explained, “I found a heroine who is very naïve and refreshing. I find truth and sincerity in this American drama.” Despite the fact that she is a gun-toting, poker-playing barkeep, Minnie’s resilience and her quintessential heart of gold represents the classic American, and specifically Californian, spirit. This character touched Puccini in a way that inspired him to “write music that I feel sure reflects the spirit of the American people and particularly the strong vigorous nature of the West.”
San Francisco Opera Guild Presents Sundown at the Golden West Saloon (May 27)
In celebration of the opening of the 2010 Summer Season and the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West), San Francisco Opera Guild presents Sundown at the Golden West Saloon. The festive gala will take place on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at The Bently Reserve (301 Battery Street) in San Francisco and will honor new San Francisco Opera music director and master of the Italian repertoire Maestro Nicola Luisotti. Tickets for Sundown at the Golden West Saloon are available through San Francisco Opera Guild. For tickets or more information, please call (415) 565-3204 or visit https://sfopera.ejoinme.org/SpringGala. All proceeds support the award-winning education and community outreach programs of San Francisco Opera Guild that reach more than 50,000 young people in 200 schools throughout Northern California every year. Event honorary chairmen are John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn and event co-chairs are Chandra Friese and Linda Elliott Zider.
San Francisco Opera Guild Panel Insight Discussion
San Francisco Opera Guild will present an Insight Panel Discussion featuring members of the cast and production team from La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West). The discussion will take place on Wednesday, June 2 at 6 p.m. in the Herbst Theatre at the War Memorial Veterans Building (401 Van Ness Avenue). Insight panels are free for Opera members and $5 for the general public; tickets can be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to the discussion.
About the Production Team
In addition to his work as artistic director of Fondazione Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Lorenzo Mariani has directed productions in Bologna, Naples, Helsinki, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Boston. Scenic designer Maurizio Balò, a frequent collaborator with Mariani, has previously designed opera sets and costumes for numerous productions at Milan’s La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera as well as for theaters in Bologna, Zurich and Genoa. Balò garnered high praise for his set designs on the recently released DVD of La Cenerentola with the Metropolitan Opera starring El?na Garan?a and Lawrence Brownlee. Costume designer Gabriel Berry has previously created costumes for San Francisco Opera productions of Harvey Milk by Stewart Wallace and Appomattox by Philip Glass. A diverse designer well known for her work in theater, Berry has also designed costumes for Glimmerglass Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Santa Fe Opera in addition to her work with American Repertory Theater, Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park in New York and Berkeley Repertory Theater. American lighting designer Duane Schuler has previously worked with San Francisco Opera on ten operas, most recently last season’s production of Verdi’s Otello. Other operatic projects have included designs for the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, La Scala and Lyon Opera.
Tickets and Information
Tickets for La Fanciulla Del West (The Girl of the Golden West), Faust and Die Walküre are priced from $15 to $360 and may be purchased online at sfopera.com or from the San Francisco Opera Box Office either in person or by phone at (415) 864-3330. Standing Room tickets go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on the day of each performance; tickets are $10 each, cash only. All performances will feature an informative Opera Talk fifty-five minutes prior to curtain; Opera Talks are presented free of charge to patrons with tickets for the corresponding performance.
The War Memorial Opera House is located at 301 Van Ness Avenue at Grove Street. Patrons are encouraged to use public transportation to attend San Francisco Opera performances. The War Memorial Opera House is within walking distance of the Civic Center BART station and near numerous bus lines, including 5, 21, 47, 49, and the F Market Street. For more public transportation information, visit bart.gov and sfmuni.com. For further information, please visit sfopera.com.
For more articles by this writer, check out the San Francisco Theater blog.
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-30274-SF-Theater-Examiner
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