Camden New Journal - Music: Tosca

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The Review - MUSIC - classical & jazz with TONY KIELY
Published: 12 July 2007

Obstacle course trips up lovers

REVIEW: TOSCA
Royal Opera House

THIS revival of Tosca at Covent Garden is one of the shows the Royal Opera is relaying to big screens around the country. A brilliant idea made possible by BP, it should be ideal with its superbly crafted score, and its love story set against a background of political oppression, always relevant.
But it does need convincing singers in the central roles and alas it does not get them. Jonathan Kent's staging last year replaced the elegant 40-year-old Zeffirelli production and is no great improvement.
The first Act church looked more like a prison – perhaps this was deliberate but the message, if any, escaped me. The elaborate Act 2 set is so gloomily lit that you can hardly see it.
The production is more like an obstacle course for the singers, distracting the attention. And these singers needed help.
Violetta Urmana has a fine voice, but neither the looks, dramatic understanding nor sexual allure needed for a convincing portrayal.
Salvatore Licitra as her lover, and accidental freedom fighter, Cavaradossi, sings with choppy phrasing, scooping top notes and one eye fixed on the conductor.
Mark Delavan has the necessary charisma for Scarpia but plays him as an American gangster rather than the icy controlling Italian aristocrat, robbing Act 2 of tension. Its cat-and-mouse encounter seemed pointless with a thug who was man-handling Tosca straight away. Unfortunately he lacks vocal authority, the sound too often seeming to get swallowed.
HELEN LAWRENCE

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