David Belasco
A Puccini Blizzard
BY FRED KIRSHNIT [NY Sun, 5 Apr 05]
While ruminating about “Madama Butterfly” in these pages the other week, I mentioned that the de facto premiere of the work was not in Italy at all but rather New York, since the David Belasco play originally opened on Herald Square. In the case of “Girl of the Golden West,” both the Belasco theatrical piece and the Puccini opera were launched in Manhattan, the latter under Toscanini in 1910.
It is interesting to remember that European audiences of the period largely perceived New York and the Wild West as virtually the same place – the way they thought of Cairo and “Aida.” Recent events indicate that this perception has changed little. The “West” of the title – which is given in English rather than Italian – represents more of a state of mind, an emblem of the rugged individualism of the new world, similar in its symbology to the orchestral essay “Ameriques” by Edgard Varese, than a geographical location.
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La Fanciulla del West, New York City Opera
By Martin Bernheimer [Financial Times, 5 Apr 05]
La Fanciulla del West, which arrived in a new production at the New York City Opera on Sunday, is a conglomeration of lovely contradictions. The libretto delivers a stark all-American shoot-’em-up, but the music delivers lush old-world verismo. Puccini was an eager tourist in this brash new locale.
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A golden portrayal of rot
BY MARION LIGNANA ROSENBERG [Newsday, 6 Apr 05]
California miners and barflies singing their hearts out in Italian, hollering “Hallo!”? The picture inevitably provokes titters, even in New York City Opera’s excellent production of Puccini’s 1910 music-drama “La Fanciulla del West.”
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