Puccini La Fanciulla del West opera to a libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini. Directed 2012 by Christof Loy at the Swedish Royal Opera House. Stars Nina Stemme (Minnie), John Lundgren (Rance), Aleksandrs Antonenko (Johnson), Niklas Björling Rygert (Nick), Michael Schmidberger (Ashby), Olia Eliasson (Sonora), Karl Rombo (Trin), Gunnar Lundberg (Sid), Linus Börjesson (Bello), Conny Thimander (Harry), Magnus Kyhle (Joe), Kristian Flor (Happy), Alar Pintsaar (Billy Jackrabbit), Agneta Lundgren (Wowkie), John Erik Eleby (Jake Wallace), Anton Eriksson (Castro), Ian Power (Larkins), and Jon Nilsson (Pony Express Rider). Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts The Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra (Concertmaster Tomas Gustafsson) and Royal Opera Male Chorus (Chorus Master Bo Wannefors). Set and costume design by Herbert Murauer. Directed for TV by Hannes Rossacher. Sung in Italian. Released in 2013, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
Christof Loy, one of the most distinctive opera directors today, loves to use black and white and (if there is any way) to line up his cast and chorus in a rank across the stage. So he jumped at the chance to do Fanciulla del West in the style of a black and white silent movie with a full opera score as stage music.
So it’s not surprising that Richard Fairman, in the November 2013 Gramophone (pages 87-88), notes this production is set in the silent film era and "uses drab, utilitarian sets---one reason why this feels so short on romance." Well, the package artwork certainly looks drab. Fairman praises Nina Stemme as Mini and John Lundgren as Jack Rance, but is otherwise not enthusiastic about this production.
But on the other hand, Patrick Dillon writing in the January 2014 Opera News at page 61 makes this his video "Critic's Choice" for the month! He's wild about Christof Loy's weird combination of horse-opera local color, colorless silent film, and current Regie strokes. He praises all the cast and especially Nina Stemme's success at "creating a feisty, full-blooded, fully believable girl-woman." Dave Billinge also gives this a good report in musicweb-international.com stating that Pier Giorgio Morandi “moulds the score into a beautiful whole . . . [and] for all the rather plain and monotone staging this in an excellent musical rendering of a splendid piece.”
So at this time (2014) we already have two A-graded HDVDs of La Fanciulla del West. The Met version is a splendid traditional account. Then there is a funny, camp satire on American culture starring Eva-Maria Westbroek. Now we have a Swedish Eurotrash version! Good operas never die — they just keep shedding their skins.