Puccini: La fanciulla del West

The place is California, the time, the 1849 gold rush – and Minnie is almost the only girl in town. With its Wild West setting, there's no opera quite like Puccini's La fanciulla del West, and this 2017 production from Naples's Teatro di San Carlo positively revels in its colour and passion. Director Hugo de Ana's stunning sets draw on classic Westerns, but this is still Naples – the home of bel canto – and the singing and playing is every bit as stylish as you'd expect. Juraj Valčuha conducts and Emily Magee heads a starry cast as Puccini's free-spirited heroine.