Tosca was my entry-level work, both listening to (the de Sabata recording) and my first live opera (ROH/Zeffirelli/Domingo’s debut at the ROH – so that tells you how long ago it was), so it plays a major part in my experiences.
This new production was updated (a mid 20th Century military/Fascist state, meant to be Hungary under Communism but, to my eyes, this was not clear from the production The setting was introduced pre-performance with military figures in the auditorium. The setting of course, while generally dramatically/emotionally appropriate did mean that specific historical/character references would not, strictly speaking make sense which, tbh, did not greatly bother me.
The three principals were sound to goo. As Tosca Zsuzsanna Adam met the vocal demands of the role with enough power and sweetness to convince but in terms of presence on stage was somewhat bland and did not convey the strength of character and grim determination, which is an essential part of the role I think. Similarly, as Cavaradossi, Laszlo Boldisar had a fine Italianate ring with some very sweet phrasing in his ‘big moments’. He kept a good musical line in all that he sung.
Peter Kalman as Scarpia was very fine. It was more a bass voice than a baritone but he managed the high-reaches of the role, particularly at the end of Act 1 with effective power and ease. His stage presence was good. His entry was also very impressive with floodlights playing over the audience as he appeared at the side of the front stalls. There was a grim stillness about him, which made him darkly terrifying, and he emanated power. Interestingly, his feelings for Tosca did not seem to be driven by lust; indeed this aspect was almost entirely absent from his relationship with her but it was more an exercise of pure power. He did what he did because he could. And this was emphasized by his looming, glowering henchmen who were his constant companions.
The end of the act was quite impressive, with the backdrop of an altarpiece with Cavaradossi’s (rather awful) portrait of Attavanti, gradually sinking down and being replaced by red and black flags with the large suspended cross above the stage crashing down at the climax of the Te Deum. Yes, this was a bit simplistically symbolic (the power of the State defeating the Church) but it provided quite a spectacular end to the act.
In Act 2 Adam was markedly more involving and gripping and her ‘dance’ with Scarpia until his death was grimly effective. The stage was dominated by a tank, the interior of which was the torture chamber (although, irritatingly, Cavaradossi’s voice clearly came for SL rather than SC) and the simple set was effective and allowed the performers to dominate. And again, throughout the act, there was a sense of power being ruthlessly used, achieved largely by careful placing of movement of the principals and the minor figures.
Act 3 started well with a fine performance from Boldisar which showed his voice to its bets advantage but the ending, to my eyes, was a MESS! Just as Cavaradossi was set up in front of the firing squad, a group of uniformed figures burst in and killed both Cavaradvossi and the firing squad. Attavanti was also there and it was actually unclear at the very end whether Tosca did in fact die. I suppose the director was [perhaps suggesting the Attavanti was a part of the resistance but how they got to the execution area was not shown. And did they kill Cavaradossi because he betrayed the hiding place of Angelotti? Its potentially an interesting idea but I felt that it had not been fully and thoroughly thought through; if Attavanti was a more important figure than she seems to be in the ‘original’ could/should more have been done with her in Act 1?
Enjoyable and with some good aspects – but I would like to see Act 3 again to see if I can make any more sense of it.