As of Saturday night, over the last decade, I have attended performances of all of Puccini's mature operas.
La fancuilla del West was the final piece of the jigsaw.
I can say that I enjoyed it enormously. Antonio Pappano conjured up miracles of sweet,
supportive sound from the pit and those cinematic sets have never looked so good. I know
that they are supposed to have been refurbished but the lighting design has also changed
for the better and I am sure that the second act set was much reduced the last time
that I saw this show.
The three principles acquitted themselves well. Mark Delavan made a suitably menacing
Jack Rance, Andrea Gruber wobbled for America as Minnie at the start but came good as
the evening progressed and José Cura looked well as Dick Johnson and sang with
satisfyingly firm tone. Nearly ten years ago, I wrote
of my desire to hear Snr Cura sing this rôle. I'm glad to have now had the
opportunity. So, a definite four star experience.
![[Four Stars - Excellent]](4.gif){kind=small}
So, what of all of those other Puccini operas? Well, here is the list.
| Premier | Work | Company | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/02/1893 | Manon Lescaut | Opera North | 19/10/04 |
| 01/02/1896 | La Bohème | English National Opera | 20/11/99 |
| 14/01/1900 | Tosca | Welsh National Opera | 04/07/01 |
| 17/02/1904 | Madama Butterfly | Royal Opera | 05/04/03 |
| 10/12/1910 | La fancuilla del West | Royal Opera | 01/10/05 |
| 27/03/1917 | La Rondine | Opera North | 21/10/00 |
| 14/12/1918 | Il Trittico | English National Opera | 16/04/99 |
| 25/04/1926 | Turandot | Royal Opera | 03/03/01 |
The journey back on Sunday was the usual train torpor. All in all, I was travelling for something like six hours.
So, was it worth it? £33 for the opera ticket. £46 for the rail ticket. £57 for the overnight stay in the hotel. Plus giving over two days of my life.
Well, for the three and a half hours I was in the theatre, yes, I was absolutely captivated. For the rest of the time that I spent travelling and mooching and filling in time, probably not. For the hole in my monthly budget, probably not. In the context of ten years of opera going, definitely yes.
I suppose I could have made it a more exciting trip for myself. I could have arranged to have met up with various people but I specifically didn't want to. I could have done lots of shopping but, frankly, I'm more and more aware of the burden of the possessions I have without adding to them. I did however buy a small gift for my Rossi. I could have gone to a variety of gallery shows but I didn't think that Edvard Munch (the best of the bunch on offer) matched my spiritual mood. I could have gone touristing but not easily in the time available. So, I didn't really make things easy for myself.
However, I did eat well at Gaby's. I read another Kathy Reichs book, Deadly Décisions, which was alright and tempts me to believe that she will become my easy read for traveling. I also read most of H E Bates The Grapes of Paradise, which is a much superior set of short stories but still only alright. I also finished listening to Radio 4's Classic serial Northanger Abbey courtesy of the radio service on the train and followed it up with Hanif Kureishi talking about The Buddha of Suburbia, which I must read again sometime.
I suppose what I'm saying is that I could have made more of the trip. And that, maybe if I'm to continue doing such things, I need to work out a more gently acceptable routine.