Puccini: Tosca, Royal Opera House, 20.05.08

Cesare Agelotti - Kostas Smoriginas
Sacristan - Enrico Fissore
Mario Cavaradossi - Jonas Kaufmann
Floria Tosca - Martina Serafin
Baron Scarpia - Paolo Gavanelli
Spoletta - Hubert Francis
Sciarrone - Darren Jeffery
Shepherd Boy - Thomas Payne
Gaoler - John Morrissey

Antonio Pappano, conductor

437th performance at the ROH

Almost every time I see a production at the ROH, someone from the cast has had to be replaced, due to illness. "Due to bad reviews, ahem, I mean, illness, Carosi will be unable to sing tonight...", I heard someone saying. Given the number of times this has happened, only for the replacement to be very good, I wonder if they really do fire singers if they get bad reviews. In any case, Serafin was a brilliant Tosca. She started off very well, and improved so much that by the end she was simply stunning, bringing off the final scene with high drama, and, what's more, vocal excellence. Coupled with Kaufmann's Cavaradossi, who, like Serafin got several rounds of applause throughout the opera, this was a thrilling evening. Kaufmann was probably the better of the two, certainly outshining all the other members of the cast, but since they had such a good presence on stage together, their acting and singing worked wonderfully.

The sets were grand and opulent, requiring two half-hour intervals to get everything into place. The first in the side chapel of the church, where the audience laughed at Tosca's jealousy over her lover painting a blonde, blue-eyed Mary Magdalene. The second act is set in Scarpia's home, where Tosca murders the Chief of Police at the end of the scene. The third; the bleak ramparts where the firing squad shoot Cavaradossi. Each one was a brilliant evocation of the requisite atmosphere, simply adding to the excellence of the music and singing.

My only slight complaint would be the children in the first act who of course were directed to over-act: for a few moments, the young choir boys fighting in the side chapel turned the scene into a musical, better suited for one of the theatres down the road than the ROH. Fortunately their singing parts are cut short by the evil Scarpia, played very well by Gavanelli, who relished the swaggering arrogance required by the role. I got the impression a few people would have liked to boo his character at the final curtain call, which is always a good sign: you know they've played the part well.

The orchestra played well from the start - no warming up! (Which as you will know, if you have read any other posts on the ROH, is my pet dislike about their playing). Pappano drew a very convincing final flourish from the orchestra, and although I normally appreciate it if the audience can wait until after the final notes to applaud, this time they cut in with genuine enthusiasm - it was simply a brilliant performance. I must add that the last scene, dominated as it is by Cavaradossi's soliloquy was helped enormously by Kaufmann's excellent singing, he really carried the scene into despair, ready for the deceived Tosca to sing of the escape she thinks they will make. The firing squad's gunshots were very real - eliciting a collective jump from the audience.

Kaufmann 5 stars
Serafin 5 stars

Overall: 4.5 stars