Giacomo Puccini’s thrilling masterpiece of the American West, La Fanciulla del West, comes to life on the big screen in a spectacular Metropolitan Opera Live in HD presentation. Set during the height of the California Gold Rush in 1849, this sweeping opera follows Minnie, the independent, pistol-wielding owner of the Polka Saloon who serves as the moral compass, Bible teacher, and object of affection for a rough camp of lonely miners. With a dramatic Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinni and Carlo Zangarini, the story takes a tense turn when a handsome stranger named Dick Johnson arrives in town. Minnie recognizes him from a chance meeting on the road, but the camp’s cynical sheriff, Jack Rance, quickly grows jealous. Unbeknownst to Minnie and the miners, the mysterious newcomer is actually Ramerrez, a notorious Mexican bandit leader who originally came to rob the saloon’s gold but finds himself completely transformed by his sudden love for Minnie.

The emotional and physical high stakes peak in the second act inside Minnie’s secluded mountain cabin. After a passionate blizzard encounter, Minnie discovers Johnson’s true criminal identity and casts him out, only for him to be shot and wounded by the pursuing posse. In one of the most famous and suspenseful scenes in all of opera, Minnie hides the bleeding bandit in her attic, but a single drop of blood falling onto the sheriff’s hand gives the hiding place away. Desperate to save her lover’s life, Minnie bargains with the sheriff for a high-stakes game of poker, cheating at the final moment to win Johnson’s freedom. Puccini’s lush, innovative score, featuring the celebrated tenor aria “Ch’ella mi creda,” drives the production toward a cinematic climax in the California redwood forest, where Minnie arrives just in time to rescue Johnson from a hanging tree and lead him away to a new life together.

 

Estimated Run Time: 3 hrs

Showings