Post by tmesis on Jan 28, 2018 13:57:32 GMT
l saw this last night - the production by Jonathan Kent and is one of the best at The Garden. Musically, of late, the ROH has had a succession of fabulous performances; this one, despite the starry cast was only OK.
First of all it was flabbily conducted by Dan Ettinger with little tension (very important in this tightly constructed opera but it was the three principals that were all to a greater or lesser degree found wanting.
Joseph Calleja (Cavaradossi) - his first aria 'Recondita Armenia' was sung with thin tone, the voice not properly supported (he sounded nervous) with a really underwhelming climactic note. Thereafter he got better and his 'E lucevan le Stelle' was well sung. As the cliche has it, he was more can belto than bel canto.
Gerald Finley (Scarpia) - this fine singer really seemed miscast in the role; he bought little of the menace and sheer power that Bryn Terfel has in previous outings of this production.
Angela Gheorghiu (Tosca) - Gheroghiu now relies on sheer charisma and star quality to get by in her performances. This she has in bucket-loads but the voice now totally lacks any power. Several of her phrases in the middle register were almost inaudible in tutti from my (very good) amphitheatre seat. 'Vissi d'arte' started well, and because it's fairly lightly scored she was projecting well with some of her old magic but then she crowned it with a final note that was excruciatingly flat. As ever there was a large number of Gheorghui-groupies in the audience who go wild at her every utterance but (it saddens me to say because I was once a huge fan) she is now a shadow of her former self.
I saw this a few years back with a cast of Gheroghiu/Kaufmann/Terfel (Pappano) and the whole thing was nothing short of sensational. This is obviously a dream cast for today and Angela, on that occasion, was superb
First of all it was flabbily conducted by Dan Ettinger with little tension (very important in this tightly constructed opera but it was the three principals that were all to a greater or lesser degree found wanting.
Joseph Calleja (Cavaradossi) - his first aria 'Recondita Armenia' was sung with thin tone, the voice not properly supported (he sounded nervous) with a really underwhelming climactic note. Thereafter he got better and his 'E lucevan le Stelle' was well sung. As the cliche has it, he was more can belto than bel canto.
Gerald Finley (Scarpia) - this fine singer really seemed miscast in the role; he bought little of the menace and sheer power that Bryn Terfel has in previous outings of this production.
Angela Gheorghiu (Tosca) - Gheroghiu now relies on sheer charisma and star quality to get by in her performances. This she has in bucket-loads but the voice now totally lacks any power. Several of her phrases in the middle register were almost inaudible in tutti from my (very good) amphitheatre seat. 'Vissi d'arte' started well, and because it's fairly lightly scored she was projecting well with some of her old magic but then she crowned it with a final note that was excruciatingly flat. As ever there was a large number of Gheorghui-groupies in the audience who go wild at her every utterance but (it saddens me to say because I was once a huge fan) she is now a shadow of her former self.
I saw this a few years back with a cast of Gheroghiu/Kaufmann/Terfel (Pappano) and the whole thing was nothing short of sensational. This is obviously a dream cast for today and Angela, on that occasion, was superb
