Last night.
I would like to say thank you to both Karen and Martin who emailed me to tell me how to set the camera for taking photos in opera houses. Sadly, neither of them, nor anyone else, had the psychic powers to say "and whatever you do, don't rely on the battery that is basically dud and should have been binned two years ago, especially if your replacement is at the bottom of your overly packed handbag..." So, I failed once again to get decent Curtain Call pictures. I shall just have to make sure I see Jonas in performance sometime soon...
I decided during the second act that if there is one aria that ought to be cut in the operatic repertoire, it is Vissi D'Arte. Sure, I know intellectually why it is important, it tells us all we need to know about how Floria Tosca regards herself. It is a brilliant pause in an otherwise fast-moving opera. The fact that it is meditative in a tightly-packed work ought to be a good thing. But I find it boring, I find it longer than the whole of the rest of the opera put together. And I don't like the tune.
For me, Tosca is primarily a tenor vehicle, with both Recondita Armonia and E Lucevan le stelle being well known even to people who have never been to an opera, and Vittoria vittoria being amazing writing suitable for amazing singers. But, actually, the musical highlight is the Te Deum that closes Act I.
Tosca is a superb opera for anyone who is generally unfamiliar with the genre. The tightly packed action full of tunes doesn't take much insight to enjoy. And yet every time I hear it, I do hear something new. I had a sense that the house was packed out with noobs. You get this sense from the way people are dressed. And the fact that in Act III during the Love Duet, there is a brief rest in the music and Tosca and Cavaradossi turn to the audience to sing Trionfal, di nova speme l'anima freme in celestial crescente ardor, many of the audience burst into applause, drowning out that phrase, which is very important.
Until I got to the Stage Door I didn't see a single familiar face in the audience. I'm not just saying the people with whom I chat, but also the faces that just look familiar as a result of frequent fleeting encounters. Well, unless you count Michael Howard*. At least, I think it was Michael Howard. When I arrived, Michael Howard, or his doppleganger, was standing outside waiitng for someone. He saw me looking at him, and suddenly buried his head in looking down to txt on his moby. Later, just before the curtain, I saw the same bloke still looking very like Michael Howard, with a woman who looked a lot like Sandra Howard (who is very elegant) taking seats in the orchestra as I looked down from on high. But I can't be sure.
This run of Tosca was supposed to be a routine revival, originally with tba as Cavaradossi. When the tba turned out to be Jonas Kaufmann, 'routine revival' was thrown out of the window. Sadly, the rest of the cast was simply not in the same league. I enjoyed both Micaela Carosi and Paolo Gavanelli as Tosca and Scarpia, to call someone second-rate is not particularly an insult, and I am sure the noobs would justifiably think they were excellent. But, still.
I did find Gavanelli quite frightening as Scarpia and much to my self-disgust I did rather feel a frisson when he sang that basically he gets more pleasure in the well fought conquest than in the exchange of tender caresses. The frisson wasn't musical.
I noticed a marked difference in the orchestra under Paul Wynne Griffiths last night as compared to Tony Pappano last week. Again, I'm not knocking Paul (who was very friendly at the Stage Door) but it did lack some fire and some momentum. Although again I have to give special kudos to whoever was on bass drum, arguably the most important instrument in the entire opera.
When I saw it last week, I had a sense of wonder, something so familiar from so many recordings and yet sounding fresh, which I didn't experience last night. I thought Jonas was absolutely marvellous and yet, I don't think he was quite up to last week's performance. Whether that is actually true or whether it is a product of my physical and mental tiredness, I really can't tell.
And I can't decide what to think of the production. It is very traditional, and on the whole I don't like Traditional, but I can't really think of any other way of doing Tosca, other than say, having Cavaradossi as an ex-druggie painting a community centre, Scarpia a Drug Dealer and Tosca as some blingy rap artist. I don't especially like the layout, trying to work out why the church appears to have two levels... I suppose Cavaradossi could have been painting in a crypt but I don't think the Attavanti chapel would have been located in a crypt. I dunno, it's years since I've been to Rome and I can't remember whether Sant'Andrea della Valle was one of the two million churches my mother took me into. I can see the point, during the Te Deum, of Scarpia being down below in the dark crypt while the choirboys sing out in bright colour up above. But I suppose it sums up my major problem - it is dark all the way through. Again, I know why, it does make it realistic, but the only contrast is this barely glimpsed scene. I just got tired of it being dark, dark and nothing but dark.
Overall, a very pleasant evening, which ended with me being part of a crowd gathered for Jonas at the Stage Door. As usual he lingered to stay and talk, sign autographs, pose for photos and so on. I asked him for a kiss and I was rewarded!
* Failed ex-Leader of the UK Conservative Party
