La fanciulla del West (
The Girl of the West) is an
opera in three acts by
Giacomo Puccini to an Italian
libretto by and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play
The Girl of the Golden West by the American author
David Belasco.
Fanciulla followed
Madama Butterfly, which was also based on a Belasco play. The opera has fewer of the show-stopping highlights that are characteristic of other Puccini works, but is admired for its impressive orchestration and for a score that is more melodically integrated than is typical of his previous work.
Fanciulla displays influences from composers
Claude Debussy and
Richard Strauss, without being in any way imitative. Similarities between the libretto and the work of
Richard Wagner have also been found, though some attribute this more to the original plot of the play, and have asserted that the opera remains quintessentially Italian.