A wise man of opera once said in my hearing, testifying to the enduring emotional impact of Puccini: “When I no longer cry at ‘Boheme,’ I quit.” The same should be said of “La Fanciulla del West,” from “Ch’ella mi creda” to the end – and so it is with Lillian Groag’s production that opened on Nov. 10 at the Virginia Opera in Norfolk, with performances to come through Dec. 3 in Richmond and Fairfax as well.

Consider the dramatic set-up: a heroine beloved of the local population; her tenor-hero love interest, and a baritone character who is the local law-man, loves the heroine, is none too pleased with the hero, and even has power to put him to death under color of law.