In the third act of Tosca our heroine advises Mario how to
behave when the "fake" execution takes place. "Com'e la Tosca in
teatro," she says--"like Tosca in the theater." From this
statement director Robert Carsen has formulated a
"theater-within-theater" event: There is no church, no Palazzo
Farnese, no Castel Sant'Angelo-at-dawn. There is only a
theater--backstage, in front of the curtain, etc. Anthony Ward's
sets and costumes look like a "show"; they distance us from the
action rather than making us feel for the artists. The soprano
is a soprano enacting the role of Tosca and, I think, Scarpia
runs the opera house. There is a lot of posturing--even Tosca's
blue gown, fur coat, and sunglasses overstate the case; and
while it's not laughable or totally stupid, it seems an
unnecessary metaphor. Who is Mario supposed to be? A set
painter? And although opera-house impresarios come under great
criticism for their cold-bloodedness, do we know of any who
torture and murder? Never mind.
Musically there are fine
moments. Emily Magee is a super Tosca, singing with clarity and
grand tone, delivering outrage and tenderness in equal
proportions. Her "Vissi d'arte" is gorgeous. I don't think she
quite makes it as the diva playing the diva--she merely seems to
be overacting. The same may be said of Thomas Hampson, who,
looking dashing, chews the scenery and sings more loudly than
anyone. He's too crafty an artist to be silly, and his
aggressive behavior is believable, but eventually you get
confused as to which level you're supposed to be "getting".
Somehow, tenor Jonas Kaufmann manages to escape the
show-within-show and merely gives a fabulous performance as
Cavaradossi. His big, dark tone easily reaches the big, high
notes and he can spin a pianissimo line better than any tenor
around. And he looks great as he creates a flesh-and-blood
person rather than a "character". The rest of the cast
is just fine and conductor Paolo Carignani leads a quick,
big-volume, hard-edged performance that excites. It's too bad
the whole opera is a masquerade of some sort. An interesting
exercise that fails.
