2006/2007 Season Opera
[New Production]

Giacomo Puccini : LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST

OPERA HOUSE

Minnie	:	Stephanie Friede
Jack Rance	:	Lucio Gallo
Dick Johnson	:	Atilla B. Kiss
Nick	:	Ono Mitsuhiko
Ashby	:	Hasegawa Akira
Sonora	:	Izumi Ryohei
Trin	:	Akitani Naoyuki
Sid	:	Shimizu Hiroki
Bello	:	Narita Hiroyuki
Harry	:	Takano Jiro
Joe	:	Hayama Kosei
Happy	:	Omori Kazuhide
Larkens	:	Imao Shigeru
Billy Jackrabbit	:	Katayama Masashi
Wowkle	:	Miwa Yoko
Jake Wallace	:	Maiya Takehiko
José Castro	:	Okubo Makoto
Un postiglione	:	Otsuki Takashi
Chorus	:	New National Theatre Chorus
Orchestra	:	Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

April 2007	15	18	21	24	27
	Sun	Wed	Sat	Tue	Fri
2:00	X		X	X
6:30		X			X

Doors will open 45 minutes before the opening of the performance.

	S	A	B	C	D	Z
Price(yen)	21,000	15,750	10,500	6,300	3,150	1,500

A story of pure love between Minnie, a beautiful saloonkeeper, and the leader of a bandit gang in the frontier days of the American West. Like Madama Butterfly, it is based on a play by David Belasco. Its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City was the greatest hit in the history of that institution. It was an ambitious work, using innovative harmonies and orchestration to drive a piece that, like musical comedies, placed a priority on keeping the story moving. The effective use of American folk songs and Native American melodies, famous scenes such as the suspenseful poker game in the second act, and the lyrical chorus at the finale all combine to make this a richly attractive work.

Minnie, proprietress of the Polka Saloon, is a popular bringer of comfort and cheer to the rough men of the frontier. Sheriff Rance woos but does not win her. Then a drifter named Johnson appears (really the bandit leader Ramerrez), and when his identity is revealed and he is wounded with a bullet, Minnie, who has fallen in love with him, attempts to hide him in her living quarters, but he is discovered and arrested. He is about to be hanged for his crimes when Minnie comes running to plead for his life. The men are won over by her sincerity, and they permit the couple to ride into the sunset together.