Met HD La Fanciulla del West Jan. 8

Deborah Voight and Marcello Giordani Star

By: Susan Hall - Jan 06, 2011

Deborah Voight and a group of miners.

Is President Lincoln peering out of a photo behind the bar?

When Giordani was asked by Voight what his favorite moment in the opera is, he swept her into his arms and gave her a humongous kiss.

Deborah Voight and Marcello Giordani

Met HD La Fanciulla del West in local venues Saturday, January 8 at 1 pm

Take out your Stetson and your cowboy boots and stroll downtown to the the broadcast of Puccini's last opera.  It premiered a hundred years ago at the Met.  Puccini was in the audience, Toscanini conducted, Enrico Caruso sang Dick Johnson.  A lot to live up to and this production makes the mark.

Never shy about placing his operas in far away places -- China, Japan, and the marshes of New Orleans, Puccini picked the American West for La Fanciulla.  So we have lines like 'Whiskey per tutt'i and 'Hello regazzi' and one scene is settled by 'una partita de poker.'

Go have fun, hear some beautfiul music and see a stunning new production.  Deborah Voight as Minnie is not your usual Puccini pushover, but a tough, gun slinging marm. Giordani is the Met's go to tenor.  Based on a play by David Belasco, who also created the Madama Butterfly story, you will be enthralled.  This most modern of Puccini's music is intriguing.  As a bonus, suggestions are offered for how to handle the next blizzard.