Tosca

In my view, this is a recording that one should avoid.


The Greatest Live Performance Of Puccini's Tosca   December 28, 2003
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

In March of 1985, the Metropolitan broadcast on tv a live performance of Puccini's Tosca starring the celebrated tenor Placido Domingo and the dramatic soprano Hildegard Behrens in the lead roles of Tosca and Caravadossi. Cornell Mcneill performs a sensationally wicked Scarpia. This Met broadcast is now available on DVD and it sounds incredible. The production was the brainchild of Franco Zefferelli, the outstanding film director and his authentic touch is expressed in the costumes and scenery realistically depicting Rome, Italy in the aftermath of Napoleon. This DVD is a must have for fans of Placido Domingo, Zefferelli, soprano Hildegard Behrens and the devilish Scarpia portrayed by the incredible baritone Cornell McNeill. The strength of Puccini's Tosca lies squarely in its drama. The opera was drawn from the French play by Victorien Sardou. Melodrama marks the whole of the plot. Scarpia is jealous that the revolutionary idealist artist Mario Caravadossi has won Tosca's heart., Determined to have Tosca for himself he arranges for the romantic artist hero to be executed. Tosca, deeply heartbroken, leaps to her death from a high building. The music is perhaps Puccini's most dramatic (only Turandot reaches such heights). Observe such dramatic moments when chorus and orchestra swell into a crescendo in the scene in which a religious ceremony is conducted in the Cathedral. In this scene, Scarpia declares his lust for Tosca - "Tosca you make me forget God" and the direct polarity between the sacred chorus and the profane vocals of the mendacious Scarpia is climatic.

The talents of Domingo and Mcneill are really what make this opera so great. Mcneill's Scarpia is dead-on in its majestic malice. His dark cloak and clothes, his dramatic inflection into his arias and his commanding presence make him by far one of the greatest interpretors of the role. Samuel Ramey, of late, has come to reach equal heights as Mcneill in his performance as Scarpia. Domingo is the very essence of Caravadossi- artistic, romantic and heroic. Domingo's voice is divine and his acting above reproach. Domingo, in fact, is living proof that tenors are not just singers but also actors. Domingo far outshines even Pavarotti, who sings without any real dramatic focus nor puts anything into the drama of his roles. Domingo, on the other hand, is an actor with a powerful and lyric voice. Domingo's art has stretched beyond the limits of the stage and on to film - Rosi's Carmen and Zefferelli's La Traviata and he has been a conductor as well as opera artistic director. As for Behrens, her Tosca looks good and sounds good, satisfying, dramatic but not up to paar with such legends as Maria Callas, Leontine Price, Mirella Freni or Grace Bumbry, all who have performed incredible Toscas in their careers. Conductor Sinopoli and his orchestra pack a powerful punch in what is one of opera's greatest melodramas. A must have for fans.


the very best Tosca--here's why   June 28, 2003
Mr John Haueisen (WORTHINGTON, OHIO United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The secret to a successful performance of TOSCA is the dramatic tension linking the three main characters: the good Floria Tosca, her lover Cavaradossi, and the evil Scarpia. For the performance to work, the audience must be convinced of the evil nature of Scarpia.

Cornell MacNeil's Scarpia oozes evil through every pore. His lewd leers at Tosca, and the ease with which he orders all manner of torture, seeming to enjoy it as much as others are repulsed by it, provides an authentic flavor to his character.

Placido Domingo's voice is at its very best, and to hear him sing Cavaradossi is, in itself, enough reason to enjoy this production. Hildegard Behrens is a convincing Tosca, especially in the dramatic "This is Tosca's kiss!" She nearly injures her voice as she growls at Scarpia, "Mori, mori, mori"--"Die, die, die." No other Tosca has better dispatched the unbearably monstrous Scarpia.

The staging, lighting, set, and Sinopoli's conducting are simply marvelous, as is usually the case at the Met. You can almost smell the incense, as Scarpia struts around inside the church. Of all the available performances of Tosca, this is the most dramatic, with excellent singing, acting, and casting. It will transport you back in history, and you will share the almost delicious pathos of the participants. This is the very best Tosca.