Tosca - Royal Opera House, 6 March 2013
Maurizio Benini clearly knows his way round the score, but spoilt Covent Garden regulars will miss the detail, the variety and the sheer passion that Pappano brings to Tosca. What looked on paper like a routine revival of a warhorse production was instead elevated to the extraordinary by the powerful performances of its central cast.
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Enjoy Sir Antonio Pappano and his crew while you may - I suspect it'll get pulled when the BBC recover from their NYE hangover.
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There are more Nutcrackers than you can shake a sugar plum at, but the festive TV schedules are more parsimonious with their operatic offerings this season.
The one highlight is the Royal Opera House's recent all-star Tosca (Kaufmann, Terfel, Gheorghiu) which airs tomorrow, 24 December, on BBC2 at 2.35pm.
Preceding it at 1.35pm is a DVD extra-style documentary. Pappano's Essential Tosca isn't just a ponce around the historical locations, though inevitably there's quite a bit of that sort of thing. There's also rehearsal footage (Angela is surprisingly 100x more compelling in this than the real thing), a detailed look at how the bell sounds are produced, and an interview with the legendary Ennio Morricone. The programme also marks the first and I confidently predict only time a Music Director of the Royal Opera House says 'masturbatory' on daytime TV
The ROH website has a clip of the documentary's start (strangely, they miss a trick by not plugging the opera itself). The BBC have more clips - none of them featuring Jonas Kaufmann, in case you're wondering. In total you can watch nearly half the show online.
Both programmes will be on the iPlayer later.
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This is ENO's latest marketing wheeze. Presumably aimed at the under-5s, it's a game where you.....well, hit the button above and see for yourself. Something with loads of stabbing and candlesticks might have been more fun though. Feel free to share your scores - I managed a miserable 5 first time round.
If you want to enter the competition, it might be safer to do it on ENO's own site.
Disclaimer - As the above is basically an advert, I assume ENO won't mind me reproducing it. I am happy to remove on request if not.
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Tosca - Royal Opera House, 17 July 2011
There was something missing from tonight's Tosca - the Maestro's vocal accompaniment. Has he bowed to public pressure and resolved to conduct in silence?
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Tosca - Royal Opera House, 14 July 2011
Talk about a hot ticket. Queuing for the 67 day seats for this Tosca started the night before. But after a season short on star power, the lure of Gheorghiu, Kaufmann and Terfel (for just two shows) is hard to resist. Even if the staging is well-worn, and frankly not that exciting in the first place.
Continue reading "Taking a stab at Tosca - Gheorghiu, Kaufmann and Terfel" »
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Cast, audience, workers and everyone else in the building were turfed out of the Royal Opera House during this morning's dress rehearsal of Tosca as a fire drill took place.
Above, Tosca (Martina Serafin) and Cavaradossi (Marcello Giordani) chat in the Piazza while passing tourists fail to bat an eye. Below, Scarpia (Juha Uusitalo) keeps an eye on the choirboys.
(Many thanks to reader KM for the photos)
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The hot ticket for the Royal Opera House's summer season is undoubtedly the will-she/won't-she booking of Angela Gheorghiu as Tosca. Even if she does deign to grace London with her presence, it will be for two nights only, 14 and 17 July, when she is joined by Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel and immortalised on DVD. Be warned Kaufmann's recent cancellation record is beginning to resemble Gheorghiu's, though at least in his case there's been audible evidence of genuine medical issues. If you're entering the Friends booking scrum tomorrow, grab these first (the second date has more availability) or you may find nothing left.
A respectable cast featuring Martina Serafin, Marcello Giordani and Juha Uusitalo fleshes out earlier dates in the run, and Pappano conducts all but one show.
Running alongside it is Massenet's Cendrillon, from 5 July 2011. This Laurent Pelly mezzofest is new to Covent Garden and is worth taking in for the legendary Ewa Podles alone. Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote and token soprano Eglise Gutiérrez aren't shabby either.
Willy Decker's Peter Grimes returns on 21 June 2011. Ben Heppner is booked for the title role, though given his recent form I'd be surprised if he makes all dates. Amanda Roocroft, so impressive in the recent ENO production, is Ellen Orford. Andrew Davis conducts.
Leiser and Caurier's Madama Butterfly returns on 25 June 2011 with the serviceable Patricia Racette, James Valenti and Anthony Michaels-Moore, but more excitingly, Andris Nelsons in the pit.
What I'm looking forward to most though is Luke Bedford's opera Seven Angels which makes its London debut in the Linbury Studio on 12 July after premiering in Birmingham on 17 June. No cast details yet.
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Just look what happens when you ask for more arts coverage on TV. This Saturday it's like the World Cup Final of opera.
On BBC2 at 7.30pm there's the Royal Opera House's Simon Boccanegra with Placido Domingo, as filmed on Monday. The programme is produced by the BBC themselves (not the ROH), so with luck it should feature on the iPlayer later. If you miss this, there's always the free live big screen relay at various venues on 13 July (which will of course be a different performance).
Or if you have access to Arte, you can tune in at 9pm CET for a delayed-action broadcast of that night's Tosca from Munich, featuring Jonas Kaufmann and Karita Mattila. This is the Luc Bondy production first seen at the Met. It looks as if the show won't be webcast, though there's a possibility it may be available as VOD later. A DVD should pop out in the fullness of time, too.
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Tosca - English National Opera, 18 May 2010 (first night)
I haven’t always been Ed Gardner’s biggest fan in the past, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not Puccini's either, but his breathtakingly superb conducting has got to be the main reason to catch this new Tosca. 'Revelatory' is a word that's often tossed lazily around, but here it's perfectly justified. This is a Tosca I could listen to over and over again.
more and *photos* on next page
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Tosca - Royal Opera House, 9 July 2009 (first night)
Angela Gheorghiu is of course better known for dropping out at the last minute than dropping in, but then Deborah Voigt unexpectedly withdrew from this Tosca mere days before opening night. Just when it seemed Bryn Terfel might be obliged to fake five nights of uncontrollable passion for the plucky but frankly 'autumnal' Nelly Miricioiu, the surprise announcement was made that la Gheorghiu would be returning to Covent Garden in the production created for her in 2006.
Gheorghiu has her knockers, but while her voice and her (un)professionalism are open to criticism, her presence is undeniably electrifying. The stage wasn't set on fire when she stepped on it (something of a surprise given the number of burning candles and the repeatedly-demonstrated clumsiness of the cast) but the temperature certainly rose a few degrees. Despite the teasing playfulness of her jealous outburst, she displayed a compelling nervy intensity - some compensation for puny and even tremulous singing that didn't firm up until the second act.
Her performance was gripping, but it simply wasn't moving. Even when she span out Vissi d'arte quite exquisitely in her tiny porcelain voice, it left me cold.
She's a generous performer though, and there was a real frisson to her interaction with Marcello Giordani, who never let his enormous voice overwhelm her tiny instrument. His physical rigidity (a health issue?) didn't convince. But he sang Cavaradossi with textbook precision, if like Gheorghiu he was ultimately uninvolving.
And I can't help thinking there's something wrong with a production where Tosca has more secksy-chemistry with Scarpia than Cavaradossi. There's a disturbing hint of complicity with Bryn Terfel's poison-hearted psychopath, a man who casually terrorises even his own staff. But then who wouldn't be drawn to him? - this is a magisterially compelling performance from Bryn, and immaculately sung, with penetrating attention to every syllable. Hiding his torture chamber behind a Bond-style secret bookcase door in his house is a clever touch - only the truly committed bring their work home.
Amongst the smaller roles, Kostas Smoriginas as Angelotti and Jeremy White as the Sacristan stood out as well-rounded and well-sung.
Jonathan Kent's traditional production has awkward, ugly sets, and the singers seem subservient to the scenery, forever negotiating a minefield of unduly fussy touches - bread drops from ladders, cheese rolls down stairs, windows open when they shouldn't, doors don't want to open when they should, singers walk into the furniture. If I'd bet a week ago on which show a singer would break a leg in, it would be this one. But it tells the story, straight.
Unlike Jacques Lacombe's efficient but prosaic conducting. Plain loudness substituted for real excitement, and dynamics shrunk in response to the size of the voices rather than dramatic necessity. Unlike the scenery, it never came close to catching fire.
******* more photos over page *******
Continue reading "Tosca at the Royal Opera House - Angela returns" »
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I couldn't help noticing a difference (well a couple, actually) between Angela Gheorghiu's appearance as Tosca in 2006:
and how she looked on Thursday, the opening night of the current run:
Filet-o-chicken and hold the fries! One way to distract attention from the singing I suppose.
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We all know Angela Gheorghiu doesn't 'do' rehearsals - her superior operatic skillz of course render them entirely superfluous.
So it was no surprise that today's dress rehearsal of Tosca at Covent Garden featured instead Nelly Miricioiu, who is sharing the title role. Nelly is no spring chicken, but an artful combination of gliding, sliding, swooping and scooping conceals the worst of the wear and tear. The history-book sets and frocks invite an old-skool semaphore display which Nelly, ever the diva, was only too happy to provide.
By her side, though with even less chemistry than Renee'n'Joe, Marcello Giordani rattled the chandeliers with his Met-sized voice. He seemed to be going through the motions, but perhaps he'll warm up for the proper shows.
Jacques Lacombe kept the orchestra together neatly in a well-paced reading, but I wanted more light and shade, more drama.
The glacial, composed menace of Bryn Terfel's Scarpia - could this be the definitive portrayal? - seems at this stage the only reason to catch this revival. But who knows, things could change between now and Thursday's opening night - which will also throw la Gheorghiu into the mix.
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It's official - as confirmed by reader KM, below.
Opera's own answer to the Cheeky Girls, Romanians Angela Gheorghiu and Nelly Miricioiu replace Deborah Voigt in the Royal Opera House's forthcoming Tosca.
Angela takes 9, 14 and 16 July, and Nelly 11 and 18 July.
Ms. Voigt withdrew "due to an attack of acute colitis".
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We haven't had a cancellation for a few days, have we? Soon sort that out.
An unconfirmed (but widely spread) rumour suggests that the Royal Opera House's July Tosca will be going ahead without its planned star, Deborah Voigt.
Amanda Echalaz and - wait for it - Angela Gheorghiu are currently being floated as replacements. But who knows?
The Royal Opera House are unlikely to announce anything until the subs are lined up. So let's wait and see.
(thanks Michael, T, Sue and Carmel for the tip off)
UPDATE - rumour now (unofficially) confirmed by a very reliable source
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Tosca - Opera Holland Park, 1 July 2008
Some commentators think Tosca shouldn't be mucked around with because its historical setting is so specific. June 17 1800, the aftermath of Napoleon's victory at the battle of Marengo, is a date that Puccini took great care in researching and reproducing for the stage, right down to getting the background Te Deum note-perfect.
But Stephen Barlow’s ingenious Opera Holland Park Tosca whips off the tired old pantaloons and updates the background turmoil to Rome in 1968, a year marked by violent student demonstrations and extremist clashes. And a few little quibbles aside, it works. That's because, despite all Puccini's attention to detail, in the opera he ended up writing the history is the wallpaper, not the drama. It's all about the personal relationships, and if you can ignore the odd reference to Napoleon, the real signficance of the context is in the more general sense of social turbulence.
The historical proximity clarifies the social distinctions, even if it's not quite apparent whether Scarpia is a police chief, politician, mafioso or all three. But he's suavely attractive in his immaculate suit, an unusually appropriate catch for the glamorous Callas-like Tosca. So her rejection of him only emphasises the depth of her love for the scruffy bohemian Cavaradossi.
It's set entirely outside in a piazza. This incorporates the unavoidable backdrop of Holland House's garden wall into church and cafe exteriors plastered with Scarpia's electioneering posters and Tosca's concert flyers. Act I's church interior scene is played outside its door, Scarpia's Act II room becomes the neighbouring cafe, and the Castello Sant'Angelo of Act III is the the piazza itself.
The ancient Fiat on stage throughout plays a crucial part in the final scene - Cavaradossi is pushed into it to be shot, Godfather-style, and Tosca leaps on to its roof to immolate herself in place of the traditional leap from the battlements. Details are well thought out, with a procession of locals adding colour to the bare set, and a picture perfect trattoria. A couple of props fell off the wall on this first night, but that sort of thing can happen anywhere.
Act I:
Act II:
End of Act III:
Poster detail:
Amanda Echalaz was a stunning Tosca, with a big, creamy sound and plenty of stamina. She was far more effective in the role than the unsubtle Micaela Carosi in Covent Garden's recent production. (Amanda Echalaz and Jonas Kaufmann - now that would be a team.....).
Seán Ruane can certainly act, but his workmanlike tenor couldn't last the course, and his Cavaradossi was rather monochromatic and dare I say it, English (even though I'm guessing from the name he's Irish). Nicholas Garrett's Scarpia was so menacingly persuasive that it was easy to overlook the fact that his bantamweight baritone is a complete miscast. Other than his voice getting lost now and again, there were few drawbacks. And when Scarpia is several degrees hawter than Cavaradossi, Tosca's choices are cast in a completely different light. The other parts were very solidly cast too - I particularly liked Simon Wilding's Angelotti and John Lofthouse's meddlesome Sacristan. A sturdy, unshowy reading from Phillip Thomas in the pit completed the musical side most effectively.
Scarpia Nicholas Garrett:
Tosca Amanda Echalaz, Cavaradossi Seán Ruane
Conductor Philip Thomas, Tosca Amanda Echalaz
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Tosca - Royal Opera House, 12 May 2008
Poor Micaela Carosi didn't have the best of luck in her Covent Garden debut as Tosca. On her big entrance - ping - she clipped her toe on something and almost went flying down a flight of steps. As she tussled with Scarpia mid-stab, a letter he'd been writing attached itself to her bead-encrusted shoulder, like some weird origami parrot. Only a tortuous back-scrubbing manoeuvre could make it drop. And the long train of her final act dress had a mind of its own, pausing to admire the scenery until she tugged it back into line.
I'd love to be able to say that after all her trials she delivered a dazzling performance. Well, she sang cleanly, powerfully and intelligently, but more like a stroppy housewife than a volcano of tempestuous passion. It left me cold.
Jonas Kaufmann on the other hand was the real thing. We all sort of knew his role debut as Cavaradossi might be pretty special - I wonder if the Royal Opera House would have been quite as packed out for a lesser tenor. But the brazen intensity of this performance was almost shocking.
It wasn't just the power - pushed to the max - or the thrilling ring to his top notes. He had the courage to make his final showpiece aria, E lucevan le stelle, conversational, almost meditative, a touching reflection on his memories of Tosca. There was tenderness and teasing humour in Qual occhio al mondo, where he drew from Carosi a human side that unfortunately failed to resurface agin later. His ability to bring something different and special to each role is what really marks him out as a performer though - there's never the slightest sense that he's repeating himself or falling back on time-proven tricks.
Paolo Gavanelli's Scarpia was another standout performance, intelligently underplayed with a chilling malice. And as is increasingly the case these days at Covent Garden, the smaller roles were all exceptionally well-filled. I particularly liked Kostas Smoriginas, a smouldering Angelotti, and the wheedling menace of Hubert Francis's Spoletta.
Antonio Pappano, apparently conducting at Kaufmann's insistence, lived up to his reputation as a singer's conductor, allowing perfomers all the space and freedom they needed. The vitality of the performance spilled over into untidiness in places, never to serious detriment, though I wish I'd had money on the horns mucking up the start of the third act - in retrospect, a banker.
The low lighting at the start of each act was irritating - I want to see what's happening on stage, not just guess at it - but other obvious staging pitfalls were avoided, and I liked Scarpia's torture chamber, set James Bond-style behind a fake bookcase in the study.
But the nicest thing I can say about Jonathan Kent's scrupulously literal production, here on its third outing, is that it doesn't get in the way much. Unless you're an accident-prone soprano that is.
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With less than 10 hours to go till the curtain rises on the first night of the Royal Opera House's latest Tosca revival, it appears everything is under customarily firm control.
According to the website (screen shot below) the small parts of Shepherd Boy and Gaoler have yet to be cast. Nothing a few panic calls round the choir schools and some major sucking up to Ferruccio Furlanetto can't fix......
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