Review: Full-throttle ‘Tosca’ at San Francisco Opera

SAN FRANCSICO — There are two sensational performances in San Francisco Opera’s “Tosca” at the War Memorial Opera House, a production that is firing on all cylinders at the midpoint of its run.

In Puccini’s title role, there is Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian, making her company debut. When she isn’t singing with the sort of unreserved power that you may have thought had vanished from the field, she is showering her listeners with delicate fragrances, as if pitching baskets of potpourri into the air.

And as Baron Scarpia, the Roman chief of police circa 1800, there is baritone Mark Delavan, who is creepily comfortable in this lordly role. He steps into the criminal’s shoes with a suave and laid-back élan, and then — as in his Act 2 confrontation with Tosca, whose lover, Cavaradossi, is being tortured in the next room — erupts with trembling power. With his searing voice, he goes toe-to-toe with Tosca; it’s like watching the horror version of “Beauty and the Beast.”

At Saturday’s performance — two more performances remain, on Nov. 4 and 8 — Beauty proved to be the stronger one. Haroutounian out-sang Delavan, though not by much.

This was compelling entertainment, as was the larger production, a spectacle devised by Lotfi Mansouri in 1997 and reprised several times since. Thierry Bosquet’s towering sets — re-creating the 1932 War Memorial production — embody the power and venality of church and state, which crush Cavaradossi, the artist, and Tosca, the diva and actress, who also is a schemer and, ultimately, a killer. With her dagger, she brings down Scarpia, though that’s not the end of the story.

This opera is a model of concision, but every production doesn’t flow as neatly as this one. Directed by Jose Maria Condemi, it feels like life: Flirtations, spats and off-hand threats are naturalistically rendered by the talented cast of actors. From the opera’s opening chords, dark and shivering, the orchestra performed with clarity and animation. Conducted by Riccardo Frizza, it provided a nest for the singers onstage.

Tenor Brian Jagde, as Cavaradossi, was overshadowed by Haroutounian and Delavan. And yet I enjoyed his easy and floating way of singing a line, effusing his role with sincerity, smarts and humor, and bringing alive this gentleman artist in the first scene. Bit by bit, he expanded on this opening gambit, growing cocky, rebellious, ardent: His Act 3 “E lucevan le stelle,” recalling the beginnings of Cavaradossi’s love affair with Tosca, combined great tenderness and biting intensity. Jagde sang his heart out.

As the escaped prisoner Cesare Angelotti, bass Scott Conner sang with penetrating tone, and one could see this zealot’s passions in his burning eyes. As the Sacristan, Dale Travis displayed his pleasingly seasoned bass-baritone. As Spoletta, Scarpia’s punk henchman, tenor Joel Sorensen was as groveling and despicable as one could hope.

And in case you were wondering, the take-away — the memory that most sticks — is that of Haroutounian singing Act 2’s famous “Vissi d’arte,” in which Tosca despairs over life’s violent turns, when all she ever wanted was to live for art. With dark and luxurious voice, with precision and much soulfulness, Haroutounian delivered a gem, prayerful and heartbreaking.

Contact Richard Scheinin at 408-920-5069, read his stories and reviews at www.mercurynews.com/richard-scheinin and follow him at www.twitter.com/richardscheinin.