Pittsburgh Opera thrills with season opener ‘Tosca’
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Two suicides and a murder. Throw in torture, rape and an execution on stage, sparked by a corrupt police chief who uses his position and connection with the church to advance his political ambitions and perverse sexual agenda.
Victorien Sardou’s 1887 play, the basis for Puccini’s opera “Tosca,” had all the elements of a 21st-century thriller. But Puccini clothed his libretto in plush musical garb that tells the tale with just enough respite from the violence, to let the listener relax and enjoy the arias and duets that have made this work immortal and beloved.
Garnett Bruce, stage director of the production that opened Pittsburgh Opera’s season at Benedum Center, Downtown, Saturday evening, relates all this with clarity, adding cogent details that illuminate the protagonists’ feelings and motivations. After an opening night first act that was visually and aurally chaotic, conductor Antony Walker led the orchestra and characters on stage in a tightly knit, dramatically compelling performance that brought this operatic chestnut vividly to life. Ercole Sormani’s sets (owned by Seattle Opera) were traditional and adequate, though the ins and outs of the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle didn’t quite make sense.
The title character of Puccini’s “little shocker” — yes, it can still shock today’s jaded audiences — is herself an opera singer: a spoiled diva in Napoleonic-era Rome, who finds herself embroiled in a fatal web of politics and romance. The role demands a soprano with a big dramatic sound capable of settling into passages of tender lyricism, and a persona that can captivate an audience from her first entrance to her final jump from the parapet of Castel Sant’Angelo.
Leah Crocetto, heard here as Mimi in a “Boheme” in 2014, fills all the vocal requirements along with many of the histrionic demands. She has a gorgeous, opulent sound, with a vocal technique that allows her to scale back into sweet pianissimi, and spin long phrases with evenness of tone and no glitches between the notes.
Theatrically, the singer did not command the stage consistently in the first act, seeming to lose concentration during the love duet while at the same time producing some very lovely musical effects. She came into her own in her Act 2 confrontation with the evil Baron Scarpia, articulating the words intelligibly, nailing the several sustained high Cs at the emotional climaxes with thrilling accuracy and stamina. Her “Vissi d’arte” aria, the central point of the act (and of the opera), was finely vocalized and psychologically right on. She showed the heroine’s nervousness by downing several glasses of wine at key moments (for which director Bruce deserves some credit as well). Her stabbing of Scarpia and realization of the implications of what she had done were extremely well achieved — again kudos to both actress and director in a scene that can look ridiculous if poorly acted out.
As Scarpia, Mark Delavan was the very incarnation of evil, with the added touch of visibly toadying to the Bishop for support. Mr. Delavan’s splendid huge baritone rode the orchestra superbly in his early scenes. Later on, his sound uncharacteristically diminished and he seemed vocally out of sorts, though he maintained his dramatic domination to the bitter end.
The weak link in this performance was Brazilian tenor Thiago Arancam, as Tosca’s lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi. Mr. Arancam, seen here earlier this year in “Turandot,” looked appropriately tall, dark and handsome, but lacked the vocal chops for the role. He started shakily with a weak rendition of his first aria. Melodic lines were dryly delivered, and his high notes throughout ranged from somewhat forced to painfully pinched and out of tune.
In supporting roles, Eric Ferring’s bright, penetrating tenor was a standout as Scarpia’s henchman Spoletta. Matthew Scollin’s solid bass worked well for the sacristan’s music, though he lacked the buffo skills for this semi-comic part. Remaining roles were passably filled by resident artists Andy Berry (doubling as Angelotti and the Jailor), Ben Taylor (Sciarrone) and Ashley Fabian (the offstage Shepherd Boy).