from Act III of the Italian opera La Fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto: Guelfo Civinini

Role: Dick Johnson aka Ramerrez, a bandit on the run disguised as Dick Johnson

Voice Part: tenor       Fach: spinto tenor

Setting: a forest at the foot of Cloudy Mountain, USA, 1849-50

Synopsis: Johnson is about to executed for his crimes committed as Ramerrez. He explains his final wish passionately : that Minnie think that he was freed and never know his actual fate.

from Act II of the Italian opera La Fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto: Guelfo Civinini

Role: Dick Johnson aka Ramerrez, a bandit on the run disguised as Dick Johnson

Voice Part: tenor       Fach: spinto tenor

Setting: Minnie's cabin outside of a mining camp at the foot of Cloudy Mountain, USA, 1849-50

Synopsis: Minnie has found out that Johnson is really a bandit named Ramerrez. Angrily, she asks why he came to her cabin. He responds that he came to rob her but was unable to do so after seeing her. He then tells her of his life. His father was a bandit but when his father died six months ago, Johnson had to support them by taking over his father's gang. After seeing Minnie, he no longer wants to be a thief.

from Act I of the Italian opera La Fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto: Guelfo Civinini

Role: Jack Rance, the sheriff

Voice Part: baritone       Fach: dramatic baritone

Setting: The Polka Saloon in a mining camp at the foot of Cloudy Mountain, USA, 1849-50

Synopsis: Jack Rance pours his heart out to Minnie, saying that no one loved him before he left his birthplace and he loved no one. Now that he has met her, though, he would give the world for just one kiss from her.

from Act I of the Italian opera La Fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto: Guelfo Civinini

Role: Minnie, the owner of The Polka Saloon

Voice Part: soprano       Fach: spinto soprano

Setting: The Polka Saloon in a mining camp at the foot of Cloudy Mountain, USA, 1849-50

Synopsis: After Jack Rance has told him that he loves her, Minnie replies that she needs nothing from him because she has fond memories of her family. Besides, she wouldn't take a husband unless she loved him as he loved her.

from Act II of the Italian opera La Fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto: Guelfo Civinini

Role: Minnie, the owner of The Polka Saloon

Voice Part: soprano       Fach: spinto soprano

Setting: Minnie's cabin outside of a mining camp at the foot of Cloudy Mountain, USA, 1849-50

Synopsis: Dick Johnson has come for supper. He mentions that it must be somewhat lonely up in the hills at Minnie's cabin. She responds enthusiastically, saying that it isn't lonely at all. She finds joy, peace, and excitement in the natural beauty of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the meadows and valleys that lie in-between them.