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The Telegraph, 16 May 2008 |
Rupert Christiansen |
Puccini: Tosca, London, ROH, 12 May 2008
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Opera review: Tosca
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Jonathan Kent's 2006 production of Tosca returns
to Covent Garden looking distinctly stronger than it did on its first
dreadful revival last summer.
Less wobbling scenery, better stage management and more focused lighting
helped, but it was the arresting performances of Jonas Kaufmann as
Cavaradossi and Paolo Gavanelli as Scarpia that lifted the bar.
Kaufmann combines a firm, even tenor, rich in the middle and resonant at
the top, with great musical intelligence and a dashingly Byronic stage
presence.
He can do heroic, and he can do romantic: his cry of "Vittoria" in Act 2
sent shivers down my spine, and his phrasing of "E lucevan le stelle" was
wonderfully sensitive. He is without doubt the most persuasive Cavaradossi
since Domingo's heyday.
Gavanelli makes an insidiously vile Scarpia, quietly sadistic but utterly
ruthless in pursuit of his perverted appetite. If only he had been up
against a rather more subtle Tosca than Micaela Carosi, an old-school
Italian diva with a line in traffic-cop gestures and a sizeable and
effective but rough-edged dramatic soprano which paid little heed to the
nuances of the text.
Excellent cameos from Hubert Francis (Spoletta) and Kostas Smoriginas
(Angelotti) made positive contributions to the proceedings, and Antonio
Pappano's conducting had a galvanising influence overall. |
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