Tosca

When this production was first conceived by Opera North in 2018, Donald Trump was in the White House and the #MeToo movement was a dominant cultural force,  which partly inspired the Director Edward Dick to give it a modern sensibility.

The story was transplanted from Rome during the Napoleonic wars to an unnamed present-day country where Church and State collude.

In one of the most striking parallels about powerful men behaving badly, the villain Scarpia sings about his desire to both bed Tosca and discard her after his prospective conquest.

The spectacular set draws together contemporary imagery with renaissance references.

The centrepiece is a beautiful golden dome. In the first act, set in a church, a piece was missing as it was being painted and put together. In act two it was a completed ceiling, and in the final act it was used with chilling effect as a backdrop for the final tragedy.  

The same production was seen recently at the outdoor staging at Margaret Court Arena, which conveniently has the same stage size as the Joan Sutherland Theatre.

The modern interpretation largely worked, but was a little disconcerting when Scarpia had a laptop delivered onto his bed.  What was he going to watch eagerly on the screen?  Yes, it was something x-rated  … the torture of his prisoner in another room.

Tosca is being regularly re-invented because it is consistently one of the top five opera performed around the world. The previous long running production by Opera Australia was directed by John Bell and set in Nazi occupied Rome.

The combination of sumptuous music and gripping drama makes it an excellent opera to introduce newcomers to the artform.

More seasoned opera goers look forward to those jaw dropping moments when a singer smashes a famous aria. No-one could doubt the energy and intensity Giselle Allen brought to the role of the tragic singer Tosca. Particularly, her gritty acting and energy in flinging herself across the stage during the height of the drama.  

I would describe her performance as robust and passionate,  but without any sizzling singing highlights.

In this production the men shone. Young Woo Kim (Cavardossi) drew an ovation for his beautiful rendition of “Recondita Armonia” with his velvet trombone tone.

Gevorg Hakobyan also delivered in spades as the evil Scarpia.

There were nice cameos from Opera Australia company principals David Parkin (Angelotti) and Andrew Moran (Sacristan).

Alexander Hugo Young rose to the occasion as the young shepherd boy.

Under the baton of Johannes Fritzsch, the music was crystal clear.

We don’t need to see Tosca done in frilly 19^th century costumes. This fresh interpretation is both beautiful to look at and raw in its moments of terror.  It makes the story of political intrigue, passion, violence and abuse of power more accessible for today's audience.  

David Spicer

Photographer: Keith Saunders.