IT AIN'T OVER...Byline: Rick Mortensen Staff Writer CAN YOU ever have too much Puccini? Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. thinks not. The company opens its 2002-03 season Wednesday with Giacomo Puccini's cowboy opera ``The Girl of the Golden West'' after closing last season with Puccini's ``Turandot'' and ``Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, based on a story that is referred to in Dante's The Divine Comedy. It is the third of the trio of operas known as Il trittico. .'' Edgar Baitzel, L.A. Opera's director of artistic operations, said the fact ``Girl of the Golden West'' is set during the California gold rush  The California Gold Rush 1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. will help stave off possible Puccini-fatigue among the audience. ``If you consider 'Parsifal' the opera of Bayreuth (Germany) or 'The Magic Flute' as an Austrian national opera, then I would proclaim `The Girl of the Golden West' as the California national opera,'' he said. ``Of course, it has a certain taste of spaghetti Western spaghetti Western n. A low-budget Western film made by a European, especially an Italian, film company. spaghetti western Noun a cowboy film made in Europe by an Italian director Noun 1. , but I think nowadays Puccini would be a wonderful writer for the film industry, comparable to John Williams This biographical article or section needs additional references for verification. Please help [ to improve this article] by adding additional sources. Unverifiable material about living persons must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. .'' Running alongside Puccini's spaghetti Western will be Giuseppe Verdi's ``Nabucco'' (opening Sept. 8), which was viewed in its time as the Italian national opera. It's set in biblical Assyria, but the opera's nationalistic themes struck a chord in the cause for Italian unification Italian unification (called in Italian the Risorgimento, or "Resurgence") was the political and social process that unified different states of the Italian peninsula into the single nation of Italy. and made Verdi a sort of mascot. Later this fall, L.A. Opera will take audiences to 19th-century Nuremberg, Germany, for Jacques Offenbach's ``Tales of Hoffmann'' and 19th-century Russia for Dmitri Shostakovich's ``Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,'' featuring Russia's famed Kirov Opera of the Mariinsky Theatre. The Kirov was slated to reprise re·prise n. 1. Music a. A repetition of a phrase or verse. b. A return to an original theme. 2. A recurrence or resumption of an action. tr.v. its massive production of Sergei Prokofiev's ``War and Peace,'' which was performed at the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Metropolitan Opera last year. Due to a funding shortfall, L.A. Opera decided to replace it with a slightly less massive production of ``Lady Macbeth,'' bringing about 300 artists over from Russia rather than nearly 500. The schedule change was made public Aug. 23, and Baitzel called it ``fiscally and artistically responsible.'' He pointed out that ``Lady Macbeth'' performed by the Kirov Opera is hardly chopped liver. ``We still aren't talking about scaling down from 'Aida' to 'La Serva Padrona,' '' he pointed out. `` 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk' is one of the most important operas written in and for the 20th century. ... I think it's very touching emotionally,'' he said. Written in 1932, Shostakovich's dark, gritty opera centers around Katerina Ismailova, an unfulfilled housewife who finds passion in the arms of a farmhand, kills her husband and father-in-law and, at the end of the opera, feels bad about it. It was banned by Russian dictator Josef Stalin as ``corrupt.'' Katerina stands in sharp contrast to Minnie the barmaid, the central character in ``The Girl of the Golden West.'' Catherine Malfitano, who plays the role, sees Minnie as an idealist who tries to bring love and beauty to her rough surroundings. ``She's a terrific woman, because she's trying to better herself and her life,'' Malfitano said. ``She's surrounded by men. She's working in this bar and she's also kind of home-schooling these miners. She says at one point that she only has $30 worth of education herself, but she's trying to bring some beauty and education into their lives.'' While she helps the miners appreciate the niceties ni·ce·ty n. pl. ni·ce·ties 1. The quality of showing or requiring careful, precise treatment: the nicety of a diplomatic exchange. 2. of life, Minnie saves her heart - and her first kiss - for someone special. ``She's looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a very special love - a love that she saw between her mother and father, and she talks about that early on,'' Malfitano said. ``The miners all adore Minnie, they're all in love with her, they'd all love to marry her, but she knows that none of them are the one. She chooses the one, and he turns out to be a bandit bandit: see brigandage. .'' Malfitano has played several Puccini heroines, including the title character in L.A. Opera's 2001 production of ``Tosca.'' Like Tosca, who is blackmailed by the dastardly das·tard·ly adj. Cowardly and malicious; base. das  tard·li·ness n. Scarpia, Minnie tries to rescue her man from death at the hands of a would-be suitor SUITOR. One who is a party to a suit or action in court. One who is a party to an action. In its ancient sense, suitor meant one Who was bound to attend the county court, also, one who formed part of the secta. (q.v.) . Unlike Tosca, who ends up jumping to her death, Minnie succeeds. ``There's a little bit of Tosca in her, there's a little bit of Butterfly, and then Minnie is like no other Puccini heroine, frankly,'' Malfitano said. ``I don't think Tosca could survive in the wild like Minnie has to. If it were Minnie in confrontation with Scarpia, she would have come with her gun.'' Malfitano will play Minnie opposite L.A. Opera Artistic Director Placido Domingo, with whom she has collaborated on many other operas, including an on-location TV movie of ``Tosca.'' The production, directed by Gian-Carlo del Monaco, starred Domingo in its 1991 premiere. Baitzel is excited about the smaller roles as well. He said having native Californians in the chorus helps add authenticity. ``Most of our (supporting cast) are California boys who know how to wear boots, jeans and hats,'' Baitzel said. ``It might be a really authentic, Californian cowboy production. We hope the audience will have as much fun as the cast is having here in rehearsals.'' THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. , 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. When: Opens 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sept. 10, 13, 16 and 19; 2 p.m. Sept. 22. Tickets: $30 to $170. Call (213) 365-3500. Upcoming shows: ``Nabucco,'' Sept. 8-28; ``Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,'' Oct. 23-29; ``The Tales of Hoffmann'' Nov. 24-30 and Dec. 4-21. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: LA Opera Artistic Director Placido Domingo saddles up for the season's opener. |
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