Pittsburgh Opera inaugurated its 79th season last night with an overall brilliant performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. The opera is a perennial favorite, and deservedly so. Puccini penned possibly the last “grand opera” of the 19th century when he set to music this Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It was first heard at the Teatro Costanzi, Rome, in January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou’s 1887 French-language play, La Tosca, is a melodrama set in Rome in June 1800, while the Kingdom of Naples’ control of Rome is threatened by Napoleon’s invading forces. The three leading roles are Floria Tosca, a singer; Mario Cavaradossi, her artist lover, and the villainous Baron Scarpia, who has Rome under an iron fist.
Mario’s political intrigues give Scarpia cause to seize him as a prisoner, and use him as a hostage to claim the prize he lusts after – Tosca. The lady is led to believe that giving herself to Scarpia for a night will free Mario after a “mock” execution and secure for the lovers the safe conduct papers they will need to flee Rome. Unaware that she is being double-crossed, the desperate, gentle Tosca is forced to dispatch Scarpia by her own hand. When she realizes Scarpia’s treachery and that all is lost, she leaps to her death to avoid capture for Scarpia’s murder. Some of the action is intensely dramatic, the orchestration is some of Puccini’s finest, and the opera contains some of his best-known arias. The production is staged and designed rather grandly in the traditional fashion, and is mercifully spared from “modern dress” or some of the other abstract conceptions today’s directors and designers seem to think the classics need, when they don’t. Of course, such liberties are frequently taken when expenses are the inspiration, and this production is rich and lavish, colorful and a delight to the eye.
The famous Te Deum in the Church of Sant’ Andrea alla Valle at the end of Act 1
There was a great deal to delight the ear as well. Antony Walker and the orchestra gave a performance that would have thrilled Puccini himself. This gifted group can always be counted on for excellence, but last night the score received a powerful interpretation in the many passages which require a gripping instrumental accompaniment and balanced these with those needing a more delicate sound quite exquisitely. The ever-reliable chorus, under the direction of Mark Trawka, was in top form as well. The large group, augmented by a number of children, added greatly to the magnificence of the first act’s conclusion. They were well rehearsed in action as well, and becomingly costumed.
Leah Crocetto makes her role debut as Tosca with Pittsburgh Opera
The bulk of the vocal demands falls on the shoulders of the title role, and the American soprano Leah Crocetto, singing the part for the first time in her career, delivered a sterling interpretation of the tragic heroine. She was at her very best in the passages requiring dramatic force, and her rendition of the famous second act aria, “Vissi d’arte” (“I lived for art”), brought down the house, as the old saying goes. It’s not likely she’ll be forgetting her first Tosca anytime soon because at the final curtain she received one of the most vociferous ovations heard at the Benedum in quite some time. She does not present the visual illusion of Puccini’s jealous and coquettish opera singer to any great degree, but in action, she proved to be quite agile and effective. A soprano with multiple performances of the role under her belt would be hard pressed to top the vocal rendition Ms. Crocetto delivered, and the audience’s reception of her was quite exciting.
Scarpia (Mark Delavan) attempts to intimidate Mario Cavaradossi (Thiago Arancam)
Tenor Thiago Arancam, heard in the spring in Turandot, returned in the role of Mario Cavaradossi. This young man has an impressive resume that includes performances stretching from Moscow to San Francisco, and just about every place in between, and in appearance he is ideal in romantic, heroic roles. His vocal method tends at times to require strenuous effort to reach climacteric passages, with the result that his voice has a slightly hollow, reedy sound, with an audible glide between the registers. Since I’ve only heard him on nerve-racking opening nights, it wouldn’t be fair to say he always sings in this manner, and he was very well received by the audience for his delivery of the plaintive third act aria, “E lucevan le stelle” (“And the stars shone”).
Baritone Mark Delavan, heard here on a number of occasions, returned as the treacherous Baron Scarpia. His acting of the part was a subtle and effective portrayal, and vocally he is well suited to the role. He was at his best in the magnificent “Te Deum” which concludes the first act, his powerful voice plainly audible over the surging of the orchestra, massive chorus, church bells and booming cannon. He sang very well in the second act, in which his death at the hands of Tosca was vividly and realistically enacted. At the final curtain he was quite amusing in his reception of the audience’s good-natured mixture of hearty applause and booing.
Guards move in to seize Tosca (Leah Crocetto) for Scarpia’s murder
The remaining characters in the cast have comparatively little to do, but the secondary roles were well handled by Resident Artists, past and present. Andy Berry was especially effective as Angelotti, the escaped political prisoner, and Matthew Scollin had fun with the flustered Sacristan. Eric Ferring and Ben Taylor were effective as Scarpia’s henchmen, Spoletta and Sciarrone, and Ashley Fabian sang the brief, off-stage strains of the Shepherd Boy.
The production is well staged and designed, with impressive sets, costuming and lighting effects. The Tosca of 2017 is by all means one of the best presentations of the work Pittsburgh Opera has given, and is one that shouldn’t be missed. For performance dates, a full synopsis, cast biographies and much more, visit Pittsburgh Opera.
The “Artistic Team” for Tosca –
Conductor, Antony Walker; Stage Director, Garnett Bruce; Set Designer, Ercole Sormani; Lighting Designer, Andrew David Ostrowski; Wig and Makeup Designer, James Geier; Stage Manager, Cindy Knight; Assistant Conductor, Glenn Lewis; Chorus Master, Mark Trawka; Associate Coach/Pianist, James Lesniak; Assistant Stage Director, Frances Rabalais.
David Bachman Photography
Categories: Archived Reviews