Kaufmann also appears on the DVD of “Tosca” (on EMI Classics)
with the title role portrayed by Angela Gheorghiu, and the
villain Scarpia by Bryn Terfel. Antonio Pappano conducts the
orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Jonathan Kent’s staging is
conventional, meaning that he does not take liberties with the
opera. In fact, I prefer it to the Met’s current production of
the opera.
The video quality is a bit fuzzy but that may
be because my review copy is not the Blu-Ray edition. As an
all-round cast, this one sings and acts well and even looks
appropriate. For example, the Luciano Pavarotti DVD with
Shirley Verrett and Cornell MacNeill is quite good, and I prefer
Pavarotti’s singing to Kaufmann’s, but the German is a better
actor and looks like the part of the dashing hero and his
singing is outstanding.
It’s unfortunate that a
video version exists of only one act with Maria Callas and Tito
Gobbi but the only complete version they made together in the
studio is their audio recording (on EMI) with Giuseppe di
Stefano and de Sabata conducting, which is still the best
recorded version. However, on DVD the new one on EMI Classics is
about as good as any available.
