Editing Giacomo Puccini (section)

===''La fanciulla del West''===
{{Main|La fanciulla del West}}
[[File:Giacomo Puccini.jpg|thumb|upright|Puccini, 1910]]
Puccini completed ''[[La fanciulla del West]]'' ("The Damsel of the West"), based on a play by [[David Belasco]], in 1910. This was commissioned by, and first performed at, the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York on 10 December 1910 with Met stars [[Enrico Caruso]] and [[Emmy Destinn]] for whom Puccini created the leading roles of Dick Johnson and Minnie. Toscanini, then the musical director of the Met, conducted.{{sfn|Smith|2004|p=544}} This was the first world premiere of an opera at the Met.{{sfn|Randall|Davis|2005|p=42}} The premiere was a great success.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 1911 |title=New York Acclaims Puccini's New Opera |magazine=Theatre Magazine |volume=13 |issue=119}}</ref> However, the compositional style employed in the opera, with few stand-alone arias, was criticized at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine |year=1911 |title=The Stage |magazine=[[Munsey's Magazine]] |page=6 |volume=44}}</ref> Some contemporaries also criticized the opera for failing to achieve an "American" tone.{{sfn|Eaton|1911}}<ref>{{cite journal |date=March 1911 |title=Plays and Players |journal=Hampton's Magazine |volume=26 |issue=3 |page=364 |quote=In Puccini's ''Girl of the Golden West'' we get a highly amusing operatic picture of what did not take place in California in '49.}}</ref> However, the opera has been acclaimed for its incorporation of advanced harmonic language and rhythmic complexity into the Italian operatic form.{{sfn|Siff|2012}} In addition, one aria from the opera, ''[[Ch'ella mi creda]]'', has become a staple of compilation albums by operatic tenors. It is said that during [[World War I]], Italian soldiers sang this aria to maintain their spirits.<ref name="GroverOperas" />{{sfn|Osborne|1982|page=195}} The 2008 Italian film, ''Puccini e la fanciulla'' (''Puccini and the Girl''), is based on the period of his life when he was composing the opera.