La fanciulla del West
Opéra by Giacomo Puccini
Sunday
07.03.2027
17:00 — Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Geneva
Artistic Partner
Saturday
20.03.2027
19:30 — Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Geneva
Artistic Partner
Programme
La fanciulla del West
Opera by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Carlo Zangarini and Guelfo Civinini
Based on the play by David Belasco
First performed December 10 1910 at the Metropolitan Opera of New York
New production
Sung in italian in French and English with surtitles
Duration: 2h40 with one intermission
Recommended for ages 12 and up
CAST
Musical Director Antonino Fogliani
Stage Director and Video Production Marie-Ève Signeyrole
Set Designer Fabien Teigné
Costumes Designer Yashi
Lighting Designer Philippe Berthomé
Dramaturgy Louis Geisler
Video Collaboration Céline Baril
Choir Director Mark Biggins
Minnie Anastasia Bartoli
Jack Rance Pavel Yankovski
Dick Johnson (Ramerrez) Arturo Chacón-Cruz
Nick Enrico Casari
Ashby Lorenzo Mazzucchelli
Sonora Damien Gastl
Trin Glen Cunningham
Sid Vladimir Kazakov
Bello Nicolas Carré
Harry Satriya Krisna
Joe Marin Yonchev
Happy Igor Gnidii
Larkens Jared Mac Werlein
Jake Wallace Georgiy Derbas-Richter
Billy Jackrabbit Joshua Morris
Wowkle Carine Séchaye
Jose Castro Marc Mazuir
Un postillon Jaime Caicompai
Grand Théâtre de Genève Chorus
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
The music
In a God-forsaken corner of California, all the gold-seekers have as entertainment is a dive bar, “La Polka”, which they assiduously visit every evening, not so much for the poker and whisky, but in the hopes of a smile from its beautiful landlady Minnie. They all lust after her, but none of them has the guts to make free with her until a stranger shows up, by the name of Dick Johnson, who upsets the apple cart and starts courting Minnie, gets the other 49ers jealous and becomes the target of a manhunt all across the Sierra Nevada.
At the end of the 1900s, Puccini imagined the 1849 California Gold Rush as the setting for his first commission at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Adapted from a drama by David Belasco, La fanciulla del West extols American virtues and introduces images from the classic Western to the opera stage. With conductor Antonino Fogliani, Puccini’s powerful score will also reveal the dark side of the founding myths of the United States, which Marie-Ève Signeyrole uses to imagine a no-exit psychological thriller.
