La Fanciulla del West, Metropolitan Opera, New York

When La Fanciulla del West had its world premiere at the Met on December 10 1910, Puccini oversaw the production, Toscanini conducted, David Belasco directed and Caruso portrayed the hero. Matters weren’t quite so stellar when the company celebrated the centennial of this veristic horse-opera on Monday.

The weirdly wonderful plot, you may recall, concerns a barmaid who packs a pistol as well as a bible and cheats at poker to save her lover. She is surrounded by a tough yet sentimental ensemble of guys in cowboy hats who call themselves ragazzi, not to mention a romantic bandit equipped with a noble heart, and a lovesick sheriff who suffers a Scarpia complex.

The current version, seen here first in 1991 and last in 1993, takes the odd platitudes seriously. That is the only sensible way. Giancarlo del Monaco’s brilliant staging defines the characters boldly, motivates the action crisply, recounts the surplus shenanigans in realistic detail. He finds sympathetic support in Michael Scott’s evocative décors and Gil Wechsler’s moody lighting.

Nicola Luisotti maintains passionate propulsion, even hints of finesse, in the pit. Unfortunately, the principals on hand tend to slight their complex tasks. Minnie, the gutsy and gusty protagonist, demands winsome charm one moment and, more crucial, massive thrust the next. The role rises high and fiercely piles climax on climax. It also turns gentle on occasion, dips low and requires unreasonable stamina. It is a voice killer (ask the great Leontyne Price). Suffering pitch, stress and steadiness problems, Deborah Voigt meets the challenge bravely yet with diminishing returns. One worries much about her forthcoming Brünnhildes at the Met, not so much, perhaps, about her Annie Oakley at Glimmerglass.

Marcello Giordani flashes endlessly plangent top tones as ardent Dick Johnson (call it squillo) but neglects dynamic shading. Lucio Gallo’s lightweight baritone diminishes the heavyweight duties of nasty Sheriff Rance. The minor miners, led by Dwayne Croft as Sonora, do their bits with fine abandon. Unfortunately, comprimarios cannot sustain the glitter of Puccini’s golden west (

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