Tosca with Kristine Opolais at ROH

23/03/2012

I do try hard with Puccini. It's been three years since I last saw Tosca live, and though I have avoided it since due to my lack of enjoyment of it then, in music I find it interesting how tastes evolve and what exposure to other music, the passage of time and personal reflection does for expanding personal horizons. Unfortunately I liked it even less this time than I did before, and have realised that I just can't go to see Puccini's operas any more. I'm pretty certain they'll survive without my patronage. That said, I have already booked to see the upcoming Gheorghiu Rondine and then next season will certainly see the Manon Lescaut (I actually quite like this one, and don't mind Boheme either), but I just can't spend my evenings like this - being bored by the music, situation and characters.

What do I find so distasteful? I've explained partially before, but in general, the appalling music (excepting the often exquisite arias, everything else is banal padding finished to a high degree of surface polish, but repetitive, simplistic, vulgar, kitsch, maudlin, dull), lifeless characters, every event manipulatively designed to wring some emotion from you whilst lacking a coherent dramatic arc or genuine insight into dramatic material, the unflinching and unapologetic shallowness in all aspects and the combination of cruelty and sentimentality which permeates everything. The ultimate reason though for my extreme distaste must be the first reason given: simply that I find the music to be very poorly made (excepting the aforementioned arias, and once again, admitting a certain well polished professionalism in the surface). These things are common to everything by Puccini post La Boheme, but there are special features/failings in Tosca which struck me whilst watching that bear mentioning.

The first thing that I find difficult to stomach is the unlikeable couple at the heart of the piece. Cavaradossi is one of the dullest heroes ever sketched, lacking any character traits rendered in the music except his nauseating supplication towards Tosca. Truly hard to watch. And what in the first act makes us care about what will happen to Tosca? Her narcissism, constant challenging behaviour, desire to control Cavardossi and petty jealousy positively scream her subconscious desire for Cavaradossi to be a man and stand up for himself, but it also makes her very unlikeable. I think we're meant to care about her because of what happens in the rest of the piece, but her one dimensionality makes it very difficult indeed. The political subplot is paper thin: a plot device to set the characters up for the second Act's extremities that is clearly of no interest to Puccini in and of its own. The ultra crude use of leitmotifs introduced here in Act I and continued throughout the opera is risible and disrupts the flow of the music because Puccini so roundly lacks the required skill in counterpoint to make proper use of the technique (c.f. his contemporary Strauss who goes to the other extreme, where the technical facility is so great that everything can easily descend into an endless mush of undifferentiated themes and thence game playing).

Act II is by far the strongest dramatically and probably contains the best music. Most interesting for me, just before "Vissi d'arte", Scarpia, by far Puccini's most interesting character and in some ways surely an artistic self portrait, utters words which might be Puccini's artistic credo: "Che importa?! Spasimi d'ira... spasimi d'amore!" (Literally: What does it matter! Spasms of rage ... spasms of love!). Puccini is turned on by both equally, and when taken together all the better. It's clear whose side Puccini is on, and the opera becomes entirely flaccid once Scarpia meets his demise.

Act III is one of the worst final acts ever: shockingly tedious, with so little happening musically or dramatically: the endless musical repetitions of the opening, minimally atmospheric, the pointless boy soprano solo, a dramatically pointless Cavarodossi aria, an extremely discursive meeting between Tosca and her lover in which very little is relayed or expressed. Then the last four minutes in which we have a bizarre fake execution which turns out to be a real execution (both predictable and anticlimactic because the highly unusual situation of a fake execution just turns out to be the normal situation of a real execution), then 30 seconds of ludicrous action where the heroine, still in ballgown, shuffles off to a ledge and leaps to her death. Where's the tension? Bizarrely bad pacing considering that everyone says he's such a man of the theatre.

I have little to say about Jonathan Kent's production. It attempts a sort of realism with detailed "period" sets, but the lighting gives it an unnatural Disneyish edge (perhaps mostly resembling Beauty and the Beast) and there's an awkward cramping of the stage space and visual overstuffing with extraneous paraphernalia. In this revival characterisation was in general very undetailed, Yonghoon Lee's admirably sung Cavaradossi hampered by stock acting, and Kristine Opolais's Tosca exaggerated and hammy. The exception was Michael Volle as a very good Scarpia, dramatically committed and superbly sung, though overall he strikes me as too sensitive a singer for this role. Can we get him at the ROH in something German? His Mandryka is close to ideal. Opolais was the cause of some excitement in London as Butterfly two seasons ago and probably the reason why these three Toscas sold out this time round (certainly the reason why I came to see it again). She has a large voice that has been touted as ideal for Puccini, and while the sound production is even and the voice attractive, the chest register is nowhere near developed enough for this role, and there's very little variation in timbre. I was a little bored by her Vissi d'arte which is probably not a good sign.

Maurizio Benini generates truly stentorian sounds in the pit and shapes and colours everything as ideally as I imagine Puccini fans could hope for.

New ENO season announced

And what a fantastic season it is. For obscurists like myself it's an absolute dream, and provides a brilliant contrast to the Royal Opera House's ultra traditional season (which I've come round to and am also greatly looking forward to). There's almost nothing I don't want to see.

Outrageous claims are made for Weinberg's music (for instance that he should be considered as the third of the "great three" Soviet composers), but though he's very inconsistent (something he does share with Shostakovich and Prokofiev), at his best he writes music of genuine pathos and beauty. I don't know The Passenger, but I certainly am looking forward to it... maybe one to look out before seeing it live - the story sounds extremely interesting, though I'm wary of another concentration camp setting. We'll see!

Figaro is possibly my favourite Mozart opera overall and I never mind seeing what a new director has to say in this piece. Kate Valentine has recieved what might be described as rave reviews for her Countess at Scottish Opera, so it'll be great to see her in London.

Rameau is always a favourite with me, probably my favourite Baroque opera composer. Amazing that the ENO have never staged a Rameau before, and Castor and Pollux is a great one. Looking forward to seeing Roderick Williams on stage - have only heard him in lieder recordings thus far.

Eugene Onegin is another one of my all time favourites, it's just a magnificent score, a brilliant piece of dramaturgy and is probably my favourite piece by Tchaikovsky. Don't recognise any of the cast, but it's hard for this score not to be enjoyable. (Apparently the Royal Opera House have it slated for January 2013)

I like the way the ENO calls their revival of Tosca a "classic revival"! Not sure I'll be attending either this or Butterfly later in the season - the only things that don't really appeal.

Naturally I cannot wait for the Rosenkavalier with Sarah Connolly as Octavian, Sophie Bevan as Sophie, Amanda Roocroft as the Marchallin and God as Ochs. I always sort of dread looking down the cast list for who the Marschallin will be in Rosenkavalier productions - if that piece of casting isn't just right, the whole thing will fall flat. No need to worry though - Amanda Roocroft is both a magnificent singer (this is her role debut) and a fantastic actress, so I'm very happy. Amongst singers that the ENO can afford, especially English ones, they couldn't have chosen better. One thing though. Why on earth did they use such a hideous picture of Connolly as the image for the production?! (UPDATE 26/06: after hearing Roocroft in the ROH's Peter Grimes, I'm now not so ecstatic at the prospect of her assumption of the role. Ho-hum)

Never seen an Offenbach opera, so will be good to see Tales of Hoffmann which strikes me as potentially being one of his most interesting.

Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer is a great score in my opinion, definitely one of Adams' better operas. Only know it from the recording so looking forward to seeing it realised on the stage.

Jacob Lenz, Caligula and Doctor Dee again completely unknown by me - did I mention I was excited by the obscurity of this season! - not many details on any yes, but looking forward to all.

And finally Billy Budd and Dutchman - the former yet another favourite, the latter again new to me on the stage.

The only thing wrong with this season is no Janacek (there's none at the ROH either), but with so much that's exciting, I'm just cavilling.


ENO 2011/12 season

The Elixir of Love, Donizetti , opens 15 September 2011

The Passenger, Weinberg, opens 19 September 2011

The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart, opens 5 October 2011

Castor and Pollux, Rameau, opens 24 October 2011

Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky, opens 12 November 2011

Tosca, Puccini, opens 26 November 2011

Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss, opens 28 January 2012

The Tales of Hoffmann, Offenbach, opens 10 February 2012

The Death of Klinghoffer, John Adams, opens 25 February 2012

Jakob Lenz, Wolfgang Rihm, opens 17 April 2012, Hampstead Theatre

The Flying Dutchman, Wagner, opens 28 April 2012

Madam Butterfly, Puccini, opens 8 May 2012

Caligula, Detlev Glanert, opens 25 May 2012

Billy Budd, Britten, opens 18 June 2012

Doctor Dee, Damon Albarn, opens 25 June 2012


Click here to check it out for yourself.