Puccini’s La fanciulla del West and American Musical Identity

On 10 December 1910, Giacomo Puccini’s seventh opera, La fanciulla del West , had its premiere before a sold-out audience at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House. The performance was the Metropolitan Opera Company’s first world premiere by any composer. By all accounts, the premiere was an unambiguous success and the event itself recognized as a major moment in New York cultural history. The initial public opinion matched Puccini’s own evaluation of his opera. He called it "the best he had e