The Girl of the Golden West at Lyric Opera

Chicago Stage Review - Recommended

"...Lyric favorite Deborah Voigt, with her Midwestern blonde good looks, accessible personality and gorgeous voice is perfectly cast as the tough-but-tender Minnie. In a role debut, Italian baritone Marco Vratogna is dashing and dastardly as bad-guy sheriff Rance. Fellow Italian and celebrated tenor Marcello Giordani perfectly rounds out the love-triangle as Johnson/Ramerrez."

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"...The Girl of the Golden West is an example of opera verité, about regular people and regular events, in reaction to philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s eviscerating Wagner and his mythical themes, favoring instead Bizet’s Carmen, saying, “Have more painful tragic accents ever been heard on the stage? How are they achieved? Without grimaces. Without counterfeit. Without the lie of the great style.” Granted, Nietzsche would probably not have said the same about Puccini’s opera: The Girl is not so philosophical a work; its conceptions of love are more pure, simple, traditional. It is a bit lighter – it has more fluff to it. But that fact degrades neither the spectacle nor the enjoyment that gratifies the spectator."

Chicago Theater Beat - Highly Recommended

"...Take the time to get acquainted with the treasure that is Chicago’s Lyric Opera. This is theatre and music that has persevered because of its beauty and soul-touching quality. It’s a chance to get dressed nice, put on your Sunday manners, and sit in one of the world’s great opera houses. Brava! Bravo! Te amo Maestro Puccini!"