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Željko Lučić as Scarpia Photo: Sara Kulwich, New York Times |
I admire Vittorio Grigolo very much, but I won't say I would happily cast him as Cavaradossi. Quite often I find his voice light for the roles in which he is cast, and this is certainly the feeling here. Although there was never a feeling of "Oh dear--I wonder if he'll get the next bit!", one simply lacked the feeling of "Ahhh! This is how Cavaradossi was meant to be sung." I was so conscious of this studied lack of discomfort that in the end I missed Mr. Grigolo's artistry, which is indeed considerable. Having said that, I can state his "Vittoria! Vittoria!" was glorious and his "O dolci mani" was sweet and tender.
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The most beautiful soprano at the Met But I might be biased |
Tosca is built around conversations--Tosca and Cavarodossi, Tosca and Scarpia, even Cavaradossi and the Sacristan. This was where the entire cast shone. (The Sacristan of Patrick Carfizzi, Sciarrone of the handsome Christopher Job, and Angelotti of Christian Zaremba were very good indeed.) There were many fine dramatic touches in this new production by Sir David MacVicar, who is known for his recent Norma, as well as the three Donizetti Tudor queens at the Met (It's not a trilogy! Stop calling it that!). I've never seen Cavaradossi working with both an initial small-scale painting and the large-scale final painting of Mary Magdalene in Act I, and I also adored the moment in Act I after the Tosca-Scarpia confrontation when Scarpia grabs Tosca's stole and locks her in a gaze before she runs away in disgust and horrror. And Cavaradossi's trembling with terror in Act III, just before he is shot by the firing squad (sorry if that's a spoiler) shows that he knew from the first that the "mock execution" wouldn't be mock at all. Sets and costumes by John Macfarlane were stunning. I especially liked Scarpia's apartment in Act II and the roof of Castel Sant'Angelo in Act III.
The always amazing Metropolitan Opera Orchestra lived up to their reputation under the leadership of Emmanuel Villaume. It must be a great challenge having a rotating cast, but there were very few moments when pit and stage were not together, and the vast majority of those involved singers who are singing most of the performances in this run.
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Castel Sant'Angelo Photo: Sara Kulwich, New York Times |
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