Wild West comes to North Idaho

The Wells Fargo stagecoach is coming to town as Opera Coeur d'Alene celebrates North Idaho mining and western U.S. history with "The Girl of the Golden West."

The 100-year-old Italian opera by Puccini set musical themes and romantic cliches for a century of American Westerns.

"The Girl of the Golden West" features a Bible-teaching, gun-toting, card-playing mother figure who the town sheriff adores and wants to marry. But she's in love with the wanted bandit and the cards will decide who gets her. Or will they?

An expanded professional cast features internationally acclaimed Metropolitan artists for the full production on stage at North Idaho College's Schuler Auditorium, Sept. 12 and 14.

Aaron St. Clair Nicholson, Opera Coeur d'Alene's general director, says he "could burst" he's so excited about this production.

Opera Coeur d'Alene has never approached a piece so massive, said Nicholson, who made his own debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera under the direction of Plcido Domingo.

Nicholson first encountered the work as an artist at New York's Glimmerglass opera house where he says he fell in love with the story, characters and music. He is especially excited about doing this "fun and gorgeous" show in Coeur d'Alene because of the region's historic connection to mining in the Silver Valley during the American Gold Rush that captured Puccini's fancy.

Spokane Symphony Conductor Eckart Preu, who will conduct an orchestra of regional professionals contracted for the show, sees a bit of humor in how Europeans imagined America and its music.

When people ask Max Mendez what an Italian composer knew about America's old west, the opera's chorus master and North Idaho College choral director laughs and points out that Puccini liked to use exotic and faraway settings such as Japan for "Madame Butterfly."

To Europeans in 1900, America's Wild West was just such a romantic place. In Puccini's lush music, listeners will recognize symphonic sounds later used for decades of horse and stage coach chases, fight scenes, lovers riding off into the sunset, and even a line or two borrowed by "Phantom of the Opera."

This three-act opera is not well-known now but when it premiered at the Met in 1910 - under the baton of famed conductor Toscanini - it drew international press attention and sold-out houses and became the model for the Italian-produced movies that filled America's screens, especially in the 1960s, known as "Spaghetti Westerns."

Minnie, the feisty and earthy mother figure to the miners will be sung here by Jill Gardner, called a "powerhouse soprano" by The Syracuse New Times. Said to be Maria Callas' successor as the next great interpreter of Tosca, Gardner was praised by Opera News for her "passion and ability to convey the slightest nuance of emotion."

Sheriff Jack Rance will be sung by international opera artist and Grammy Award winner Jason Stearns, who first sang this role with Den Norske Opera in Oslo. Once an understudy at New York's Metropolitan opera, Jason was called with 40 minutes' notice to sing Barnaba in La Gioconda, for which he won critical acclaim, going on to many other leading roles at the Met. The Washington Post called his performance in Tosca "thrilling...terrifying...a triumph."

Canadian tenor Roger Honeywell will take the stage as bandit Dick Johnson, a role first performed by famed tenor Enrico Caruso. Honeywell has been called a singer with "burnished sound and crisp diction... full of leaps and dips."

Opera News said Honeywell, who was an actor before he took up opera, has "stage sense that is second to none."

The large cast of mostly men includes rising professionals from across the country, regional favorites, voice graduate students, music teachers and the Opera Coeur d'Alene Chorus hired from throughout the Inland Northwest.

"This is the best yet. The principals are incredible talents, the energy at rehearsals is unbelievable and it's a fun western story," said longtime chorus member Mike Bullard. "The visiting artists tell us it's better than the average big city opera, but in our home a fraction of the cost gets you the best seat in the house. If you ever go to any opera, this gem is your once in a life-time opportunity."

English translation will be projected simultaneously overhead as it will be sung in its original Italian. Performances are at North Idaho College's Schuler auditorium, Friday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m.

A Wells Fargo agent/bounty hunter is featured in the program, so the bank is bringing its iconic stagecoach to the opera for those who would like photos with it, whether or not they are in cowboy garb.

The stagecoach will also be present the next day when Opera Coeur d'Alene presents an "Opera Bash" at 6 p.m. at the Hagadone Event Center at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course. The Sept. 15 event will celebrate 15 years of world-class opera in Coeur d'Alene, with performances by principal singers and chorus from "The Girl of the Golden West," with a variety of opera music.

Guests will enjoy hors d'oeuvres and drinks. The event will offer a live auction featuring a week in a chateau in Bordeaux, France, along with other fine art items.

Tickets for the opera range from $29 to $59. Cost for the Opera Bash is $65. Tickets for all Opera Coeur d'Alene events may be purchased at operacda.com, by phoning 1-800-418-1485 option 1, or at the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre box office.