Tosca review: Calleja is much better than his colleagues

Tosca 

Royal Opera House, London (Until mar 3 )      

Rating:

Tosca, Puccini’s nasty ‘little shocker’, is not only great music but a powerful piece of theatre. Which is why even a revival as indifferent in some respects as this one is well worth seeing when it hits the cinemas on February 7.

Tosca will always make an impression. But to maximise its impact you need three outstanding principals, instead of only one (as here), plus a top-class conductor. For instance, what makes Maria Callas’s first complete Tosca album the best ever isn’t just her but those playing Scarpia and Cavaradossi, and the exceptional conducting of Victor de Sabata.

Tosca, Puccini’s nasty ‘little shocker’, is not only great music but a powerful piece of theatre

Tosca, Puccini’s nasty ‘little shocker’, is not only great music but a powerful piece of theatre

This revival limps along because a radiant Joseph Calleja – as Cavaradossi, a role he learned only last summer – is so much better than his colleagues. Whatever possessed a world-class singer such as Gerald Finley to take on Scarpia, a role to which his lyric baritone, a complete rasp-free zone, is so utterly unsuited? It’s like going out for an evening of sex and violence organised not by Scarpia, the horrendous head of the Rome police, but by the gentle, philosophising cobbler Hans Sachs from Wagner’s Mastersingers, one of Finley’s finest roles.

As for Adrianne Pieczonka’s Tosca, she sounds drab and squally, devoid of either vocal or physical allure. Half a century ago Calleja could have been teamed up with Callas, Covent Garden’s favourite Tosca. Today it’s Pieczonka. That’s progress for you. Most irritating of all for me is the clumsy conducting of Dan Ettinger, who comes back every year, and I don’t know why.He’s too loud much of the time; for example, covering some of Calleja’s beautifully poised opening aria, Recondita Armonia.

Calleja’s artistry is better experienced on his new Verdi album (Decca), on which he’s free of Tosca’s second-rate support,who makes his Cavaradossi a bit like watching Lionel Messi playing for Stoke City.

 Whatever possessed a world-class singer such as Gerald Finley (above) to take on Scarpia, a role to which his lyric baritone, a complete rasp-free zone, is so utterly unsuited

 Whatever possessed a world-class singer such as Gerald Finley (above) to take on Scarpia, a role to which his lyric baritone, a complete rasp-free zone, is so utterly unsuited

This album is a glimpse of the future because here Calleja takes on five roles he has not yet sung in the theatre, but plans to. His Otello on stage may well lie many years ahead, but the four substantial extracts here (25 minutes in all, including the Act One love duet and the duet Si, Per Ciel) show him to be potentially a world-class tenore di forza – a lyric tenor with enough power in his middle register to make a real dramatic impact when required.

Lots of singers produce Verdi lollipop albums. This isn’t one of them. The only real popular favourite is Celeste Aida, dispatched here with glowing Italianate tone. The rest are connoisseurs’ choices.

The recently formed Valencia Orchestra under Ramón Tebar play really well, and Decca’s sound is truly excellent. A must for any serious opera fan.

 



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