The Royal Theater of Turin, after The Masked Ball directed by Riccardo Muti, continues its vast and detailed homage dedicated to Giacomo Puccini on the centenary of his death: from March 22 to April 8, 2024 a new production of will be staged The Maiden of the West, a work with completely original features, both in the compositional style and in the choice of the totally new subject.

Argentina directs Valentina Carrasco who debuts at the Turin opera house, while climbing onto the podium Francesco Ivan Ciampa, returning after the last experience with Cavalleria rusticana in 2022. They appear in the main roles Jennifer Rowley, for the first time in the role of Minnie, Roberto Aronica, the bandit Johnson, and Gabriele Viviani, Sheriff Jack Rance.

While the first western films, very short and silent, were all the rage on the big screen, in 1910 - after several years of silence following the Butterfly of 1904, Giacomo Puccini accepted the invitation of the Metropolitan in New York for a new opera, choosing a subject American: he decided to transfer one of those stories of gunslingers and desperate men set in the Old West to the prestigious stage. What most directly inspired the Tuscan composer, as with Madama Butterfly, was a piece, full of passion and adventure, by David Belasco, 'The Girl of the Golden West' which Puccini saw in early 1907 during a stay in the American metropolis.

The Maiden of the West, which embodies its author's desire for renewal – «It is necessary to renew oneself or die», since «harmony today and the orchestra are not the same», Puccini said – was performed for the first time in December 1910, under the direction of Arturo Toscanini with Enrico Caruso among the protagonists.

Valentina Carrasco  takes inspiration from the cinematographic suggestions of the libretto and the score, proposing a new staging that pays homage to the western genre, with an original use of technology, for a live "cinema" effect, which characterizes the scenes signed by Carles Berga is Peter van Praet. Silvia Aymonino he created the costumes that recall the atmospheres of Sergio Leone's cult films such as Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and are inspired by historical photographs and documents. Director of photography is Gianluca Mamino, while the lights are on Peter van Praet. The Chorus of the Teatro Regio is instructed, as usual, by Ulysses Trabacchin.

During the eight scheduled performances, the following will perform: Oksana Dyka (Minnie), Massimo Cavalletti (Jake Rance) e Amadi Lagha (Dick Johnson). The cast completes: Francesco Pittari (Nick), Paolo Battaglia  (Ashby), Philip Morace (Sonora), Cristiano Olivieri (Trin), Eduardo Martinez (Sid and Billy Jackrabbit), Alessio Verna (Handsome), Enzo Peroni  (Harry), Enrico Maria Piazza (Joe), Giuseppe Esposito (Happy), Tyler Zimmerman (Larkens), Ksenia Chubunova (Wowkle), Gustavo Castillo (Jake Wallace), Adriano Gramigni (José Castro), Alejandro Escobar is Luigi Della Monica (a postman). Eduardo Martinez, Enrico Maria Piazza, Tyler Zimmerman is Ksenia Chubunova they are all Artists of the Royal Ensemble.

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(Photo above, Daniele Ratti ©Teatro Regio di Torino; below a sketch by Silvia Aymonino)