If ever an opera were a perfect embodiment of a concurrent "in" style, Tosca and verismo fit like a hand in a glove. Meaning simply "realism in art and literature" in Italian, verismo at the turn of the century came, in opera, to refer to the portrayal of intense, usually negative human emotions and the acts they triggered--right onstage. Written exactly a century ago, Puccini’s Tosca takes place exactly two centuries ago in Napoleonic Rome. And with the coming of the new millennium in just a couple or so months, Indianapolis Opera’s choice to begin their 24th and millennium bridging season was perfect. Furthermore IO’s patrons, seemingly caught up in the symbology of the times, filled Clowes Hall to capacity in last Friday’s opening performance. If I must see a stage work in which three of the four principals are killed in front of me, with the fourth having previously been dispatched offstage, I can think of no better one than Tosca (Shakespeare’s Hamlet notwithstanding).
Once again IO emerged as a winner in this third of their Tosca productions: a marvelous blend of singing, orchestral color, and staging--all emerging as taut as a tightrope--as the composer would have wanted. Leading the performer parade is soprano Amy Johnson singing the title role, and an IO newcomer. Possessing a beautifully modulated voice, Johnson projected all the passion this opera’s only female role demanded.
Tosca the singer’s lover, Cavaradossi the painter was sung by tenor Michael Rees Davis, who most recently appeared in IO’s production of The Magic Flute. Davis projected well, but while his voice was nicely burnished, it also seemed a bit sterile--devoid of some of the passion we were hearing so intensely from his lady love--as exemplified in their lengthy Act I exchange beginning at "Mario! Mario! Mario!."
As for the evil Baron Scarpia, I can’t envision anyone conveying his vile persona any better than baritone Timothy Noble (currently living in Muncie), who was almost equally convincing last year as Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. Though his purely vocal qualities weren’t without occasional strain, I’m inclined to think they enhanced this particular role. As a personification of evil, Scarpia clearly outclasses even Shakespeare’s Iago, whom the former professes to admire. The intensity of the final scene of Act II ("Vedi, le man giunte io stendo a te!"), in which Tosca bargains for Cavaradossi’s life by consenting to give herself to Scarpia, in exchange for his making Cavaradossi’s firing squad execution a sham, was palpable--due in no small part to the principals’ portrayals. This scene, in which Tosca stabs Scarpia to death rather than surrender to him, and the whole of Act III, in which Tosca discovers that Cavaradossi’s execution was not a sham--and is then confronted by Scarpia’s attendants as his murderer, then herself commits suicide by jumping off the castle’s parapet--this whole sequence is surely the quintessential example of verismo in opera. It shows Puccini at the height of his ability to project dramatic force.
The supporting roles: baritone Peter Sims as the also ill-fated Angelotti, bass-baritone Mark Gilgallon as the sacristan, baritone Jack Anderson White as the gendarme Sciarrone, and bass Gregory Allan Gibson as the jailer were all well-sung, adding subtlety and nuance to an already excellent production. IO artistic director James Caraher led an augmented Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra through Puccini’s brilliantly contrived and complex score with the skill and aplomb we’ve come to expect in recent seasons. This orchestra does not need to take a back seat to the Indianapolis Symphony, which has more usually occupied the IO pit.
Scenic designer David Gano provided large, impressive backdrops of the church in which Cavaradossi paints the Madonna, Scarpia’s office, and the Castle prison. Stage director Adelade Bishop managed the IO chorus, the Children’s chorus, and the other supernumeraries with seeming ease and efficiency. Tosca was, in short, a wholly professional production from start to finish.
After all this verismo, we perhaps need a change of pace. And we're getting it with IO’s next opera: Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel, scheduled for November 20, 26, and 28, with student matinees on November 19 and 23--thus augmenting IO’s usual two-performance productions.