Benoit Jacquot reinvents the way we view opera in this magnificent production of Puccini's story of Tosca's love for the painter Cavaradossi and the intervention of Scarpia.
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Conductor: Antonio Pappano
Stars: Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero Raimondi
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240122/
First performance at Rome, January 14, 1900
Time: June 1800
Place: Rome
Gimmicky presentation, with b/w studio recording footage cut into the opera, along with location-setting outdoor footage shot with jittery cam and sometimes made very grainy/soft focus. Sometimes singers talk over their own singing. Not sure why the camera circles Scarpia so much during Te deum. I love that we get a reflection of Scarpia singing via his dinner knife, an important object later.
But mostly it's a brightly-lit production with some elaborate sets, some minimal. The look is of a sound stage, confirmed by IMDb location info.
None of the gimmicks bother me, and since this is the 5th production going into my collection, a gimmick or two is welcome.
What makes this REALLY welcome are the vocal performances. The voices were recorded in a studio (Abbey Road), so this is ideal aurally. I never saw a problem with lips out of sync, but maybe those are the moments when we get some extra footage.
Gheorghiu looks and sounds the part; acts well too. Alagna does extremely well with his role, really holding his own in duet with Tosca, and Raimondi as Scarpia is wonderful, of course; IMDb shows 4 recordings of Tosca with him and this is my 2nd.
Very glad to add this to my collection.
Rated 7.4 (364)
RoyalOpera, cond. Pappano; 9
