San Diego ArtsSan Diego Opera presents Puccini's "Tosca"
To jump to the heart of it so you can skip the accompanying meditations: a competent leading singing actress (Sylvie Valayre) firmly in control of a somewhat shrill and occasionally shredded soprano voice; a forceful, “baritonal” tenor (Marcus Haddock) with an impressive upper register; a terrific bass baritone (Greer Grimsley) who almost steals the show; handsome “subscriber pleasing” sets (by the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle) and costumes (by Suzanne Mess); a largely conservative director (Andrew Sinclair) stuck with the restrictions of an established scenic design; excellent musicians in the pit (the San Diego Symphony Orchestra); and a venerable conductor somewhat off his game (Edoardo Müller). I’ll be writing more thoroughly about all of this for Opera News where my review should eventually appear, if not in the print edition, most certainly online. And – yes! – you should see this “Tosca”. These are parlous times economically. Opera companies are seeing their donors go away, their endowments shrink, their seasons cut back and their doors close. (Costa Mesa’s Opera Pacific is now kaput and the theater itself is for sale.) San Diego Opera will offer four operas next season – not the usual five. It would be sad indeed to see anything happen to our resident company, now in its 44th season which began last night. Now to some thoughts … On November 25, 1978, I found myself sitting in the dress circle of San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House. The opera was Puccini’s “Tosca,” with sets by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, a designer who at that time was widely admired despite his somewhat innovative approach to the classics. The diva of the evening was the now (and then) legendary Magda Olivero, who without the help of supertitles was able to keep the audience totally riveted. The ovation that followed her performance was the longest I have ever witnessed in the performing arts of any genre. The management brought down the golden curtain, turned on the house lights – and still nobody would go home. At some point, however – and it’s difficult to remember exactly when – attention in the house turned toward the box of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. Sitting there was not Moscone but the famous Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayao. Her companion was San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk. Two days later Milk would be shot dead by another city supervisor, Dan White. Those who do not know very much about this (as well as those who do) might like to see “Milk,” Gus van Sant’s new Academy Award nominated film starring Sean Penn.  Sylvie Valayre as Floria Tosca Photo Copyright © 2006 Ken Howard Since that dark day, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s scenic designs for “Tosca” have continued to crop up here and there. Last night I saw them yet again, this time in San Diego Civic Theater. Needless to say, my mind rolled back over the years and I sat there trying to think of the best and most exciting of the many, many sopranos I have heard “live” in this opera – Renata Tebaldi, Montserrat Caballé, Leontyne Price, Catherine Malfitano, Dorothy Kirsten, Gwyneth Jones, Carol Vaness – for starters. They were all very different, of course: a few of these singers were not great actors, but they held you enthralled nonetheless. San Diego Opera’s program lists our company’s performance history (this 2009 show is the 7th offered in company history) and I only dimly recall my reactions to all those leading ladies. Only Marisa Galvany, Marilyn Zschau and Nelly Miricioiu stand out in a positive way. I recall Martina Arroyo and Galina Gorchakova with varying degrees of horror. The point of all this chatter is that when you see a really great Tosca, you know it and you never forget it. In my lifetime of Toscas, Olivero stands out – and not just because of the assassination that followed her performance two days after. I would put Valayre, for all her considerable strengths (solid vocal technique, stage savvy, and good looks) in the probably forgettable category. Ditto Haddock’s very solid attempt at Mario Cavardossi. For my taste his execution of the lovely Italian vocal lines lacked the sort of loving caress one hears in the finest singers of this role. Of all the parts, Grimsley’s Scarpia was the certainly strongest heard and seen last night, but – frankly – he wasn’t quite hammy enough to get all the juice out of opera’s most delicious villain. I imagine with another bunch of colleagues he could do even more with the part. His entrance was quite thrilling – a sort of dramatic highlight, along with Valayre’s histrionic moment of glory as she cried out in evident relish over the wounded Scarpia, “Die you bastard! Die! Die! Die”. (That’s my free translation of “Muori dannato! Muori! Muori! Muori!” After all, if Ian Campbell’s Supertitles can get “goo-goo eyes” into Scarpia’s second act narrative. I can get “bastard” out of “dannato”.)
Marcus Haddock as Cavaradossi. Photo by Ken Howard Müller’s somewhat erratic tempi did not help the melodrama along too much. He seemed lost in meditation somewhere around the big duet in Act One – almost as if he were examining the score for hidden beauties For neophytes, I’d say this “Tosca” is just fine. Go and have a ball. And if some of the stage direction you see in Act One seems a little odd, it’s because Ponnelle gives you a very awkward behind-the-altar perspective on a chapel in the Church of Sant’ Andrea della Valle so that all the wonderful processions and choral hubbub must be relegated to an unseen, largely offstage space. (When I first saw these sets, the altar was conspicuously propped up with plywood – an apparent comment on the idea that the institution of the church is all façade and fake veneer. In Act Three, the gigantic figure on the roof of the Castel Sant’ Angelo was also propped up with plywood – and this appearance largely remains to some extent. You seem to be gazing into a hollowed mold of the statue.) I heard some old-timers in the lobby grumbling about Tosca’s failure to place candles beside Scarpia’s corpse at the end of Act Two. Yes, it is indicated in the music – dammit!. Puccini has written music for the placing of candles. But as far as directorial willful errors and omissions are concerned, this is nothing compared to the liberties being taken in “Regietheater” (so-called Director’s Theater and Eurotrash) all over the world today. Still-alert readers will note that I managed to get through an entire “Tosca” review without mentioning the greatest Tosca of them all – you know who. The recording (the mono not the stereo one) is one of the greatest opera sets ever released. You can still get it on EMI.  Greer Grimsley, a fine Scarpia Photo © 2006 Ken Howard Jan 24, 27, 30, Feb 1 (M), 4 TOSCA: SYLVIE VALAYRE CAVARADOSSI: MARCUS HADDOCK SCARPIA: GREER GRIMSLEY ANGELOTTI/SCIARRONE: JAMIE OFFENBACH SACRISTAN: SCOTT SIKON SPOLETTA: JOSEPH HU CONDUCTOR: EDOARDO MÜLLER DIRECTOR: ANDREW SINCLAIR
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I have heard Magda Olivero as Tosca six times in three different locations. In my view, no other soprano can come close to her interpretation (even Callas). Magda is a dear personal friend of mine and I know she lived every part as she performed it. She IS Tosca when on stage singing the role.
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January 26, 2009
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To jump to the heart of it, this is a pathetic excuse for a responsible, thoughtful assessment of the performance that took place at the Civic Theatre. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Gregson is the Opera News reviewer, for that piece will doubtlessly be quite different from this piece of claptrap. It's clear that Gregson thinks his readers are a bunch of provincial boobs (or some other minority group) who will accept some kind of superficial maundering in place of what he ought to be providing as a matter of honor. The so-called reporting/reviewing on this site is deteriorating by the day, and whoever is in charge (is that you, Mr. Jones?) should start by asking for - and enforcing - some rudimentary standards.
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February 09, 2009
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