Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by the American author David Belasco.

The Stockholm Fanciulla is a roaring success. What makes this production stand out as one of the most successful seen at the Royal Swedish Opera House since the turn of the century is the singing of the three main characters: Nina Stemme, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and John Lundgren.

Minnie owns the saloon in the gold-diggers’ camp, where she both serves the drinks and reads the bible for the fortune-hunting men. One day a stranger appears. He introduces himself as Dick Johnson, and love blossoms between him and Minnie. However, he is actually the wanted bandit Ramerrez. The sheriff Jack Rance also wishes to marry Minnie. When he discovers that she is hiding the wounded Ramerrez, there is only one solution – Minnie exploits the sheriff’s weakness for poker and stakes everything to win her lover’s life.

A Western opera that takes place in a community consisting almost entirely of men, where gold-diggers once dreamed of becoming rich and happy. Despite homesickness and a dramatic love triangle, everything wraps up neatly with a happy ending! The premiere performance of La Fanciulla del West took place in 1910 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The opera is still presented from time to time, but is not performed nearly as often as Puccini’s other mature operas, making it a repertoiry gem.

Nina Stemme, Minnie
John Lundgren, Jack Rance
Aleksandrs Antonenko, Dick Johnson
Niklas Björling Rygert, Nick
Michael Schmidberger, Ashby
Ola Eliasson, Sonora
Karl Rombo, Trin
Gunnar Lundberg, Sid
Linus Börjesson, Bello
Conny Thimander, Harry

Magnus Kyhle, Joe
Kristian Flor, Happy
Ian Power, Larkens
Alar Pintsaar, Billy Jackrabbit
Agneta Lundgren, Wowkle
John Erik Eleby, Jake Wallace
Anton Eriksson, José Castro
Jon Nilsson, A Postman

The Royal Opera Male Chorus
The Royal Opera Orchestra
Pier Giorgio Morandi, conductor
Christoph Loy, stage director