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.

At the time of its debut performance, Puccini declared La fanciulla del West to be the greatest composition of his career as a composer.

After 1913, stagings of La fanciulla del West during the early and mid 20th century were more infrequent; although the opera has never left the performance repertoire.

While overall public reception of the work has remained mixed, critical assessment of the opera underwent a reversal among Puccini scholars beginning in the late 20th century.

La fanciulla del West 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.

[6] Puccini himself was incredibly thrilled with the work and both he and his publisher, Ricordi, assumed that the opera's enthusiastic response from New York audiences would translate into another popular success on the international stage.

One of the strongest objections made concerned its local color, its attempt to portray a Californian mining camp during the 1849 Gold Rush through characters, dialect, body language, clothing, buildings, landscape, customs, situation, and—most importantly—music considered stereotypical of the region.

[11] The theatrical impresario Henry Wilson Savage staged the first English language production of the opera for the work's Connecticut premiere at the Poll's Theater in Bridgeport on October 27, 1911, with Luisa Villani as Minnie.

[8] Italian critics, however, were more positive in their assessment of the opera when the work premiered in Italy at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on June 12, 1911.

[8] This performance was attended by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena of Montenegro who reportedly warmly received the opera.

[14] The work was first staged at La Scala on December 12, 1912, with Tina Poli Randaccio as Minnie and Tullio Serafin conducting where it ran thirteen performances.

[citation needed] the world première in French took place in the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 12 April 1912 in an adaptation by Maurice Vaucaire [fr].

[18] In spite of criticism, Puccini insisted that La fanciulla del West was his greatest composition up to that point in his career.

Similarities between the libretto and the work of Richard Wagner have also been found,[2][20] though some attribute this more to the original plot of the play,[20] and have asserted that the opera remains quintessentially Italian.

[21] In analyzing this general reaction among American reviews, Annie J. Randall observed in her book Puccini and the Girl: History and Reception of “The Girl of the Golden West (2005, University of Chicago Press) that European operas often feature the "exotic" and suggests that American critics have professed “annoyance that Americans had been made the object of the voyeuristic imperial gaze on the opera stage.”[23] Despite the plot being a source of significant criticism, the majority of academics and musicians today agree in calling it a magnum opus, particularly lauding its musical craftsmanship.

[25] In 1921 the opera was staged at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo where Puccini was particularly impressed by soprano Gilda dalla Rizza, remarking, "At last I have seen my true Fanciulla.

The first time was in 1929 with Jeritza as Minnie and Giovanni Martinelli as Dick Johnson; a production which remained in the Met's performance repertoire through 1931.

[36] The Met also presented this staging of the work in the 2010–2011 season with Deborah Voigt as Minnie to mark the 100th anniversary of the opera's premiere in 1910.

[37] The San Francisco Opera (SFO) staged the work for the first time on September 15, 1930, with Jeritza as Minnie, Frederick Jagel as Dick Johnson, and Gaetano Viviani as Jack Rance.

[43] In 1950 the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma mounted the opera in a production starring Maria Caniglia as Minnie and Vasco Campagnano as Johnson.

[39] La Scala staged the opera in 1956 with tenor Franco Corelli as Johnson; a role he repeated at the Teatro di San Carlo in 1957.

[39] The opera remained in La Scala's repertoire for several seasons with the role of Minnie being performed at the theatre by sopranos Gigliola Frazzoni (1956–1957) and Birgit Nilsson (1958).

[39] The Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro) mounted the work in 1964 with Magda Olivero as Minnie; a role the soprano repeated at the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in 1965.

[45] The NYCO unveiled a new production of the opera staged by James De Blasis in 1990 starring Linda Roark-Strummer as Minnie and Stefano Algieri as Dick Johnson.

[46] The NYCO staged the opera a third time in 2005 with Stephanie Friede as Minnie, Renzo Zulian as Dick Johnson, and George Manahan conducting.

[53] That same year La Scala revived the opera with Mara Zampieri, Plácido Domingo, and Juan Pons singing under the baton of Lorin Maazel; a performance which was recorded live for commercial release.

Upon seeing his leader, Johnson, in the saloon, Castro agrees to lead Rance, Ashby and the miners in a search for Ramerrez, and the group then follows him on a false trail and in what turns out to be a wild goose chase.

Rance enters Minnie's cabin looking for the bandit and is about to give up searching for Johnson when drops of blood fall on his hand.

Puccini had obtained this publication in an effort to find authentic Native American music for the role of Wowkle, but he ended up using it for Jake Wallace instead.

)[97] A climactic phrase sung by Johnson, "E provai una gioia strana" (alternatively "Ho provato una gioia strana" in some versions of the libretto) from "Quello che tacete" near the end of the first act, is widely cited to resemble a similar phrase in the Phantom's song "The Music of the Night" in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical The Phantom of the Opera.