Word: fanciulla
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...opened on a gaudier note since Maria Jeritza made her entrance as the stripteasing heroine of Thais in 1923. The cowgirl with the red braided hair was Soprano Leontyne Price (TIME cover, March 10), and the opera that rang up last week's curtain was La Fanciulla del West, or The Girl of the Golden West, by that old roughrider, Giacomo Puccini. Even among ardent Puccini fans, Fanciulla is often regarded as an embarrassing mistake, and the Met has not staged it in 30 years. But last week's production was more than good enough to remind...
...shall have the American opera ... I have never been West, but I have read so much about it that I know it thoroughly." Puccini, of course, knew no more about the American West than he knew about Japan when he wrote Madama Butterfly. But operagoers in 1910, when Fanciulla had its premiere at the Met, were no fussier than televiewers are today: with Caruso and Emmy Destinn in the leads, the premiere tied up traffic for hours near the opera house. The delighted Puccini celebrated by buying a $3,000 speedboat and naming it the Minnie. Neither the Minnie...