Hearts of gold: a gritty La fanciulla at Staatsoper Berlin

By Hugo Shirley, 15 June 2021

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“Steier wisely lets the work’s essential warmth shine through, not least in the final redemption”

Reviewed at Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin on 13 June 2021

Puccini, La fanciulla del West

Staatsoper Berlin

Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor

Lydia Steier, Director

David Zinn, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Olaf Freese, Lighting Designer

fettFILM, Video

Benjamin Wäntig, Dramaturgy

Anja Kampe, Minnie

Marcelo Álvarez, Dick Johnson

Michael Volle, Jack Rance

Stephan Rügamer, Nick

Jan Martiník, Ashby

David Oštrek, Jim Larkens

Spencer Britten, The Pony Express Rider

Žilvinas Miškinis, Billy Jackrabbit

Łukasz Goliński, Sonora

Natalia Skrycka, Wowkle

Grigory Shkarupa, Jake Wallace

Siyabonga Maqungo, Trin

Jaka Mihelač, Sid

Adam Kutny, Bello

Florian Hoffmann, Harry

Andrés Moreno García, Joe

Viktor Rud, Happy

Frederic Jost, José Castro

Martin Wright, Choirmaster / chorus director

Staatsopernchor Berlin

Staatskapelle Berlin

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Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Hearts of gold: La fanciulla's soft centre shines through in a gritty Staatsoper staging