Nashville Opera
John Hoomes: Director
Dean Williamson: Conductor
Nashville Opera Orchestra
Sung in Italian with English lyrics projected above the stage (Surtitle)
“La fanciulla del west” or “The Girl of the Golden West”:
Giacomo Puccini: Composer
Guelfo Civinini & Carlo Zangarini: Libretto
“The Girl of the Golden West”: Play by David Balasco
Fisher Center for the Performing Arts: Belmont University Campus
2020 Belmont Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37212
Free Parking:
South Garage
1521 Compton Avenue
Curb Garage
1520 Bernard Avenue
Roles:
Minnie: Kara Shay Thomson (Soprano)
Dick Johnson: Jonathan Burton (Tenor)
Sheriff Jack Rance: Kyle Albertson (Baritone)
Nick the Bartender: Gregory Sliskovich (Tenor)
Sonora: Ryan Bede (Baritone)
Harry: Louis Tiemann (UC: Dick Johnson)
Billy Jackrabbit/Jose Castro: Noah Mond (Ashby Cover)
Wowkle: Hailey Cohen (Mezzo Soprano)
Preview: Nashville Opera presents Giacomo Puccini’s La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on the Belmont University campus, January 22 and 24 at 7:30 p.m. Sung in Italian with English surtitles, this production brings Puccini’s sweeping Gold Rush opera to one of Nashville’s newest and most acoustically anticipated venues, under the direction of John Hoomes and conductor Dean Williamson, with the Nashville Opera Orchestra.
I am looking forward to this week’s production of “The Girl of the Golden West” by the Nashville Opera. While I have never sung this opera, I have seen it at the New York City Opera and a concert performance with the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with soprano Eva Maria Westbroek.
I don’t know the music that well, other than the “Ch’ella mi creda” tenor aria, of course. My overall impression of this opera is that it isn’t an easy sing. It seems awkward to me, and it is difficult to make it ‘beautiful’. The dramatic nature of the piece makes it seem like everyone is just shouting at each other. This aligns with the Verismo style that is meant to represent ‘real drama’ onstage in everything from the singing, acting, to the set and costumes.
It came on the heels of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” which was very successful and in keeping with the growing influence of America on the world stage. Capturing the romantic mystique of the Gold Rush and the American West, it is an opportunity for set and costume designers to have a new aesthetic.
I asked ChatGPT to come up with a bullet point synopsis of the opera and find it to be quite good.
- Title: La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West)
- Composer: Giacomo Puccini
- Setting: California during the Gold Rush
- Main Character:
- Minnie – Owner of the Polka saloon; compassionate, strong, and respected by the miners
- Love Interest:
- Dick Johnson – A mysterious stranger who is later revealed to be Ramerrez, an outlaw
- Conflict:
- Jack Rance, the local sheriff, desires Minnie and seeks to capture Johnson
- Johnson is wounded and hidden by Minnie, who nurses him back to health
- Dramatic Turning Point:
- Minnie challenges Rance to a poker game, wagering Johnson’s life
- She wins the game and secures Johnson’s freedom
- Climax:
- Johnson is later captured by the miners
- Minnie pleads for mercy, appealing to their shared humanity and dreams
- Resolution:
- The miners spare Johnson
- Minnie and Johnson leave the West together to begin a new life
- Themes:
- Love, redemption, mercy, and hope
- Civilization and humanity in a harsh frontier setting
The Opera is in 3 Acts:
Act 1: Inside the “Polka Saloon”
Act 2: In Minnie’s Dwelling
Act 3: In the Great California Forest at dawn.
Essentially, the plot is that Minnie’s business is “The Polka Saloon,” and is frequented by the miners working to hit it big. Minnie falls in love with Johnson, who is really the bandit and outlaw Ramerrez. She tells him to leave and Sherrif Rance shoots him. Minnie nurses Johnson back to health and cheats at a card game to win Johnson’s freedom. She wins, and they depart to start a new life, happily ever after.
There is a long scene before Johnson enters, and the plot really doesn’t start before then, and I find it a bit confusing in the beginning to grasp what the opera is about, from a spectator’s view. This is not unlike Madama Butterfly, where Pinkerton enters long after the beginning of the opera.
I am looking forward to this production and to the new Fisher Center. It looks fabulous and I hope it sounds great too. I think it is a definite improvement from the cavernous Jackson Theater at the TPAC, the Tennessee Peforming Arts Center downtown. An added bonus on the Belmont location is free parking! So, figure that in when calculating costs!
See you there!
