Fanciulla Del West

This opera was performed for the first time one hundred years ago, on the 10th of December 1910, at the Metropolitan in New York, with Arturo Toscanini and the Italian tenor par excellence in America, Enrico Caruso. On the 4th of April 1956, at La Scala, the task was passed to the thirty-five year old Franco Corelli, who made his first Milanese appearance in the role of Dick Johnson. Accompanying him on stage were Gigliola Frazzoni and Tito Gobbi. The directing of Mario Frigerio, the scenery and costumes of Nicola Benois and the conducting of Toscanini's pupil, Antonino Votto, crowned this an historical staging. A masterpiece to be rediscovered in the year of it's one hundredth anniversary.