This year marks the centenary of Puccini's La fanciulla del West. After spotting a Minnie costume on the stairs at Torre del Lago, I started to wonder what made this opera different from all other Puccini operas — and learned rather more than I'd bargained for... I also had a good chat with ace soprano Susan Bullock about the role, which she's singing for the first time at the Edinburgh Festival on 23 August. Read the whole thing here.