Pentatone Exclusive

Puccini: La Fanciulla del West (The Maiden of the West) [Double Album]

Amitai Pati, Kevin Short, Lawrence Foster, Lester Lynch, Marius Vlad, Martin-Jan Nijof, Melody Moore, Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra

22,9939,49
(1 press review)
Clear
Original Recording Format: DSD 64
Learn about choosing Quality and Channels

Lawrence Foster conducts Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (The Maiden of the West), together with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Cluj-Napoca and a cast of seasoned Puccini singers, including Melody Moore (Minnie), Marius Vlad (Dick Johnson) and Lester Lynch (Jack Rance).

Puccini’s “Spaghetti Western” is not only an exploration of the New World, with the delightfully charismatic saloon owner Minnie running the show, but equally of new music, a pioneering work full of harmonic innovation and state-of-the-art orchestration effects. The depth of the orchestration, as well as of the various ensemble scenes that are characteristic of the opera, fully comes to life in this studio recording.

Lawrence Foster has a vast Pentatone discography, including operettas and operas such as Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus (2018) and Der Zigeunerbaron (2016), as well as Verdi’s Otello (2017). You will find all the DSD albums featuring conductor Lawrence Foster at NativeDSD here. The latter album – Otello – features Melody Moore and Lester Lynch, who have also starred in recordings of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Puccini’s Il Tabarro (both 2020).

Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Cluj-Napoca
Lawrence Foster, Conductor
Melody Moore – Soprano
Lester Lynch – Baritone
Marius Vlad – Tenor
Amitai Pati – Tenor
Martin-Jan Nijof – Bass
Kevin Short – Bass Baritone

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
Act 1 - Introduction
01:11
2.
Act 1 - Hello Nick
05:50
3.
Act 1 - Che faranno i vecchi miei
04:00
4.
Act 1 - Jim perche piangi
03:14
5.
Act 1 - Andiam ragazzi
01:19
6.
Act 1 - Un poker Nick gettoni
01:52
7.
Act 1 - Mrs Rance fra poco
01:18
8.
Act 1 - Hello Minnie
03:24
9.
Act 1 - Dove eravamo
03:34
10.
Act 1 - La posta La posta
03:09
11.
Act 1 - Ti voglio bene Minnie
01:52
12.
Act 1 - Minnie dalla mia casa son partito
02:23
13.
Act 1 - Laggiu nel Soledad
02:33
14.
Act 1 - Chi c e per farmi i rici
01:51
15.
Act 1 - Vi recordate di me
01:39
16.
Act 1 - Mister Johnson voi m avete seccato
01:31
17.
Act 1 - Mister Johnson un valzer
05:24
18.
Act 1 - Mister Johnson siete rimasto indietro
03:47
19.
Act 1 - Io non son che una povera fanciulla
01:17
20.
Act 1 - Quelle che tacete
01:03
21.
Act 1 - Come voi leggermi in cor non so
02:39
22.
Act 1 - Ah non temete nessuno ardira
05:19
23.
Act 2 - Il mio bimbo e grande e piccino
02:24
24.
Act 2 - Billy, e fissato
02:04
25.
Act 2 - Voglio vestirmi tutta
03:56
26.
Act 2 - Oh, se sapeste
05:03
27.
Act 2 - Ugh, Neve
08:12
28.
Act 2 - Hello
04:59
29.
Act 2 - Vieni fuori
01:23
30.
Act 2 - Lo so, Io so - Ma non vi avrei rubato
03:35
31.
Act 2 - L'han ferito - Che importa
02:32
32.
Act 2 - Che c'e di nuovo, Jack
03:28
33.
Act 2 - E la, E la
02:09
34.
Act 2 - Un partita a poker
05:44
35.
Act 3 - Ve lo giuro, sceriffo
01:55
36.
Act 3 - Maledetto cane
02:04
37.
Act 3 - Ah, Ah, Ah
05:04
38.
Act 3 - Sceriffo Rance
00:26
39.
Act 3 - E cosi, Mister Johnson, come va
02:12
40.
Act 3 - Risparmiate lo scherno
02:11
41.
Act 3 - Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano
02:47
42.
Act 3 - Ah-Ah-Ah
02:08
43.
Act 3 - Basta, 'quando per voi
02:04
44.
Act 3 - E anche tu lo vorrai
03:20
45.
Act 3 - Le tue parole sono di Dio
02:37

Total time: 02:12:26

Additional information

Label

SKU

PTC5186778

Qualities

, , , , , ,

Channels

, ,

Artists

, , , , , , ,

Composers

Genres

,

Balance Engineer & Editing

Jean-Marie Geijsen (Polyhymnia International B.V.)

Conductors

Original Recording Format

Producer

Job Maarse

Recording Engineer

Andreas Wolf

Recording location

Studio of Radio Cluj, Romania, June 2019.

Recording Type & Bit Rate

DSD 64

Release DateFebruary 4, 2021

Press reviews

Pizzicato 5 out of 5

On December 10, 1910, La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West) premiered in the Met Puccini’s New York opera. Emmy Destinn and Enrico Caruso sang the leading roles. The audience gave the singers and the composer a triumph that was rare in this famous house. Nevertheless, the opera remained a stepchild in the repertoire.

In this new recording, Lawrence Foster’s tense, dramatic, somber, and yet also extremely lyrical interpretation is what makes the recording so appealing. Although there is no death scene in La Fanciulla del West, unlike other Puccini operas, there is something consistently negative about the whole plot of melancholy, sadness, and dissatisfaction, which is only opposed by the honest, combative love of Minnie. As a commentator on the plot, the orchestra becomes another character in the opera.

Melody Moore can ideally embody the saloon owner Minnie. In this opera, she tries to take as much as possible out of even the shortest movements. Marius Vlad can’t let Domingo be forgotten, but he’s an excellent actor.

It is mainly because of Lawrence Foster’s conducting that this new production deserves interest. It does justice to a work that has often been unjustly criticized, but whose qualities were once praised by Anton Webern (in a letter to Arnold Schönberg) for a reason. There is “not a gram of kitsch” in it, said Webern, and that is exactly what distinguishes Foster’s interpretation. It is a piece from life, tight, dramatic, and often poignant.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

Pentatone 349 albums

You may also like…

Pentatone Exclusive

Vincerò!

Marco Boemi, Orquestra de la Communitat Valenciana, Piotr Beczala

Pentatone Exclusive

Puccini: Madama Butterfly, SC 74 [Double Album]

Alexander Kaimbacher, Amitai Pati, Cecília Rodrigues and 14 more

Pentatone Exclusive
Album of the Year 2020

Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana – Live

Andreas Henning, Anna Rad-Markowska, Brian Jagde and 10 more

More from this label

Pentatone Exclusive

Russian Ballet Suites

Russian National Orchestra

Pentatone Exclusive

Spirit of the American Range

Oregon Symphony Orchestra

Pentatone Exclusive

Keisuke Wakao Plays Bach, Mozart, Britten and Prokofiev

Keisuke Wakao

Pentatone Exclusive

Shostakovich – Symphony No. 11

Russian National Orchestra

Currency
Cart