Anyone surprised by the selection of Puccini’s dark-horse La fanciulla del West as the opening production of the Opéra de Montréal season got another jolt Saturday night: the replacement in the title role of the established American soprano Susan Patterson by an unknown Russian, Irina Rindzuner. Call the evening a doubly unexpected triumph. First, the opera. It turns out not to be the improbable Wild West Show it is reputed to be but a deep, earnest drama with themes of Christian redemption underlying (perhaps even undermining) the typically operatic love story. No sinner in the world is beyond hope, Minnie reminds the gold-miners she leaves in the final scene, as she herself runs off with a reformed desperado. Scenery by Thaddeus Strassberger, an American making his OdM debut, consisted of mine shafts, rail detritus and rugged machinery, with painterly backdrops invoking the mountains and sky. It brought you to convincingly to the California frontier while avoiding the conventional Western trappings.
ot that the Polka saloon, an outdoor facility with planks on oil cans, was completely in keeping with needs of the story. Just where is the dance hall to which Minnie and Dick Johnson repair? All we see is a brothel. Nor does Minnie’s cabin, created by a rotation of the set, seem particularly cozy. Oh for the days when three acts meant three sets, constructed by stage hands during intermissions. All the same, the setting had atmosphere, as did the score, plush with impressionistic clusters as well as the sweeping melodies for which the composer is beloved. And loving is perhaps the best word to describe the work of Keri-Lynn Wilson, a Canadian conductor making her OdM debut. She and the Orchestre Métropolitain got a huge ovation, fully deserved. But back to the star of the show, Rindzuner, called in late as Patterson’s sinuses showed no signs of clearing. Her acting, on virtually no rehearsal, was understandably basic. Often her arms hung motionless. But somehow she personified the innocent-but-resourceful girl of the title, and her voice had both brilliance in the stratosphere and depth through the interludes of low-register storytelling. Most important, she filled big Salle Wilfrid Pelletier with ease. She had a handsome-sounding Dick Johnson in the Australian tenor Julian Gavin, and a fair actor, although Luis Ludesma had a deeper role to play in the sheriff Jack Rance. This Mexican baritone combined a dark voice with stormy looks, both perfectly suited to the part. The miners took their roles well, although the Italianate the words are sometimes hard to reconcile with the setting. Hard-bitten forty-niners are not supposed to miss their mommies. All the same, the drama, also managed by Strassberger, unfolded in an engaging way. Perhaps the final entrance of Minnie could have been more incisive. Never mind my quibbles. This production is not to be missed.