Covent Garden opens me-too Tosca

Covent Garden opens me-too Tosca

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norman lebrecht

January 15, 2018

The Met launched its much-substituted Tosca at New Year’s.

Vienna rolled out its new cast last week.

Tonight, it’s Covent Garden’s turn with Adrianne Pieczonka, Joseph Calleja and Gerald Finley, conducted by Dan Ettinger in Jonathan Kent’s production.

Almost anywhere you go this month, Tosca’s on the menu.

And you wonder why people complain that the repertoire has gone stale.

Comments

  • Sanity says:

    Posts like this make me want to weep.

    How staging one of the towering achievements of Italian opera on a regular basis can be referred to ‘as letting the repertoire go stale’…

    • Borech says:

      I totally agree. Tosca is greatly loved by general audiences. This production is traditional but thoughtfully conceived. It puts bums on seats, which suggests that it’s a success, appreciated by its audiences.

      I went to the rehearsal on Friday- the singers’ acting was a bit formulaic but they might have been holding back. (Pieczonka as Tosca)

      I first saw this production in 2005. Angela Gheorghiou sang then and at a revival and will do so again, later in the run. One of the critics then, suggested that she seemed to take more interest in chosing Tosca’s jewellery than attending rehearsals.

  • Player says:

    There is quite a bit of #metoo in Act 2…given Scarpia’s treatment of an actress/singer.

    But the main reason the repertoire has gone stale, is that it has not been renewed with new operas that hold a place in it. And why?

    Think we all know why. No operas that have any tunes, or that do not need intensive academic study and multiple hearings to appreciate any of the melody that *might* be hiding there.

  • RW2013 says:

    When a man is tired of Tosca, he is tired of life.

  • Pedro says:

    I will go to Tosca in NY and Dresden later in the year. Netrebko in NY. Piezoncka in Dresden ( conducted by Thielemann ). One of my favourite operas.

  • Basing says:

    Great to see that at least two Canadians are doing so well at Covent Garden.

  • Nik says:

    I sincerely hope that the rival offerings had more oomph than the tepid affair at Covent Garden on Monday night. There was nothing much to commend it. Quite apart from what went on on stage, the orchestra sounded as if they really couldn’t be bothered.

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