Opera Holland Park opens its 30th season with a compelling production of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, an opera that has often struggled to find its place in the standard repertoire. Director Martin Lloyd-Evans roots the action in gritty reality, inspired by documentary footage of a Yukon mining town, bringing authenticity to this tale of the California gold rush.
Anna Reid's period set and costumes, along with Jamie Platt's atmospheric lighting, create a vivid sense of time and place. The Opera Holland Park Chorus delivers a memorable performance, with each of the 49ers distinctly characterised, making the community feel credible and the principal players firmly rooted in their environment.
Musically, conductor Matthew Kofi Waldren brings colour and drama to Puccini's mercurial score, given in Ettore Panizza's reduction. The 40 musicians from the City of London Sinfonia sound like an orchestra twice their size, while the vocal ensemble matches the quality of the Royal Opera.
Amanda Echalaz portrays a richly drawn and touching Minnie, a broken-hearted woman in a man's world, though her top notes occasionally falter. José de Eça is a refreshingly down-to-earth Dick Johnson, with an Italianate tenor that culminates in a deeply felt Ch'ella mi creda. Robert Hayward's Jack Rance gains menace in the second act.
Ultimately, the show belongs to the ensemble, with Róisín Whelan's restrained choreography highlighting the dangerous masculine brutality. The opera is revealed as a maverick masterpiece through the miners' soaring, misty-eyed dreams of far-off families.
