Scottish Opera, 22/10/2019
Puccini : Tosca
Chorus of Tosca
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Stuart Stratford
Setting Tosca in wartime Fascist Italy has become relatively commonplace, because the historical situation corresponds so well to Sardou and Puccini's original versions, but in 1980, when Anthony Besch mounted this production for Scottish Opera, it was ground-breaking stuff. Updating operas was not yet a regular occurrence, and the visual shock, of the 1940s dress and particularly the uniforms against Peter Rice's extremely realistic sets exactly as required by Puccini was considerable. I wasn't quite out of school at that point, I had to have the specific resonances between 1800 and 1943 explained to me, but even before that explanation, it was obvious that it was a comfortable fit. You can always tell when an audience is overly puzzled by an updating, or just plain annoyed by it, and that wasn't the case at all. Now, at a shade under 40 years, the production has entered its ninth revival, and looks to be still going strong, with a couple of costume tweaks here and there, but more or less much as I remember it, and I haven't seen the last three outings.
Memories of earlier revivals are very much dominated by the titular soprano in 1982, Nelly Miricioiu, then a rising star in her (very) early thirties, and whose phenomenal Tosca was a great neon signpost to the international star she was about to become. Natalya Romaniw is at much the same stage of her career, taking on the role for the first time, though making her fourth appearance with the company. Vocally, there's absolutely nothing to complain about; the voice is in marvellous condition, lush and creamy, just enough vibrato, evenly distributed throughout the range, so the very lowest notes sound as clearly as the highest, warm and expressive. Physically, there's perhaps still some work to be done, and it's maybe that the revival director didn't push her quite in the right directions.
I found her body language too relaxed, lacking in the contrasting energies that fill this very emotive character. Her voice was saying all the right things, but there were times when I wasn't seeing it - not enough tension when Scarpia plays his tricks on her at the end of Act 1, not enough revulsion when he makes his move in Act 2, for example. The stabbing looked underpowered; if she hadn't repeated the gesture several times, I might have expected this Scarpia to survive the attempted assassination (as seen in a production over the summer!), and there was not enough visible shock, and then frenzy, in the last act when she discovers the execution wasn't simulated at all. On the other hand, the playful coquettishness of the Act 1 duet, and the misery of "Vissi d'arte" came across as admirably visually as they did vocally.
The initial impression of Gwyn Hughes Jones was of a good, healthy, clear voice produced a bit over-forcefully. "Recondite armonie" was delivered at an unremittingly loud volume, up until the final note, when Jones demonstrated that he did, in fact, have more than one volume level, and knew how to use them too. After that, he calmed down. The high volume was perfectly appropriate and welcome for "Vittoria! Vittoria!" in Act 2, but "E lucevan le stelle" had more colour and delicacy to it. It's not quite a beautiful voice, but it's a reassuringly sound one. Visually, he was fairly basic and, really, in the last act, yes, of course Tosca is naive, but she should have picked up that something was wrong from his behaviour, because he was hardly being understated about it.
The Scarpia was Roland Wood, a solid, unrepentantly brutal Scarpia, not really pretending to be anything he is not. I felt that he missed an opportunity or two to shade the character with greater finesse, but if he was never exactly terrifying, he was appropriately authoritarian. That came through vocally, too, for the most part, although in parts of Act 2, he was a trifle swamped by the orchestra, and it was only his position at the front of the stage and slightly raised that allowed him to be heard during the Te Deum. The conductor, Stuart Stratford, however, was sparing no one, with an unleashed orchestra revelling in every bar. Subtle, it was not, but Tosca is not really a subtle opera, or it takes a lot of work to make it so, which is not always that desirable. The passion was certainly there, and along with a good chorus (though they need to be placed a bit further backstage in Act 2 - they sounded too close) and comprimario roles, as well as a reliable trio of principals, the audience's enthusiastic reception tonight was wholly justified.
[Next : 24th October]
Chorus of Tosca
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Stuart Stratford
Setting Tosca in wartime Fascist Italy has become relatively commonplace, because the historical situation corresponds so well to Sardou and Puccini's original versions, but in 1980, when Anthony Besch mounted this production for Scottish Opera, it was ground-breaking stuff. Updating operas was not yet a regular occurrence, and the visual shock, of the 1940s dress and particularly the uniforms against Peter Rice's extremely realistic sets exactly as required by Puccini was considerable. I wasn't quite out of school at that point, I had to have the specific resonances between 1800 and 1943 explained to me, but even before that explanation, it was obvious that it was a comfortable fit. You can always tell when an audience is overly puzzled by an updating, or just plain annoyed by it, and that wasn't the case at all. Now, at a shade under 40 years, the production has entered its ninth revival, and looks to be still going strong, with a couple of costume tweaks here and there, but more or less much as I remember it, and I haven't seen the last three outings.
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| Production shot, Tosca, Act 3 Scottish Opera (© 2019 Mark Hamilton) |
I found her body language too relaxed, lacking in the contrasting energies that fill this very emotive character. Her voice was saying all the right things, but there were times when I wasn't seeing it - not enough tension when Scarpia plays his tricks on her at the end of Act 1, not enough revulsion when he makes his move in Act 2, for example. The stabbing looked underpowered; if she hadn't repeated the gesture several times, I might have expected this Scarpia to survive the attempted assassination (as seen in a production over the summer!), and there was not enough visible shock, and then frenzy, in the last act when she discovers the execution wasn't simulated at all. On the other hand, the playful coquettishness of the Act 1 duet, and the misery of "Vissi d'arte" came across as admirably visually as they did vocally.
The initial impression of Gwyn Hughes Jones was of a good, healthy, clear voice produced a bit over-forcefully. "Recondite armonie" was delivered at an unremittingly loud volume, up until the final note, when Jones demonstrated that he did, in fact, have more than one volume level, and knew how to use them too. After that, he calmed down. The high volume was perfectly appropriate and welcome for "Vittoria! Vittoria!" in Act 2, but "E lucevan le stelle" had more colour and delicacy to it. It's not quite a beautiful voice, but it's a reassuringly sound one. Visually, he was fairly basic and, really, in the last act, yes, of course Tosca is naive, but she should have picked up that something was wrong from his behaviour, because he was hardly being understated about it.
The Scarpia was Roland Wood, a solid, unrepentantly brutal Scarpia, not really pretending to be anything he is not. I felt that he missed an opportunity or two to shade the character with greater finesse, but if he was never exactly terrifying, he was appropriately authoritarian. That came through vocally, too, for the most part, although in parts of Act 2, he was a trifle swamped by the orchestra, and it was only his position at the front of the stage and slightly raised that allowed him to be heard during the Te Deum. The conductor, Stuart Stratford, however, was sparing no one, with an unleashed orchestra revelling in every bar. Subtle, it was not, but Tosca is not really a subtle opera, or it takes a lot of work to make it so, which is not always that desirable. The passion was certainly there, and along with a good chorus (though they need to be placed a bit further backstage in Act 2 - they sounded too close) and comprimario roles, as well as a reliable trio of principals, the audience's enthusiastic reception tonight was wholly justified.
[Next : 24th October]