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Review: ‘Tosca’ Is Sondra Radvanovsky’s Show at the Met Opera

The soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, in the title role of Puccini’s “Tosca,” charges into the Metropolitan Opera’s production and never lets go.Credit...Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
Tosca
NYT Critic’s Pick
Carmen

The Metropolitan Opera’s “Tosca” was plagued by drama when it was new last season. The lead singers canceled; the conductor, Met music director James Levine, was suspended amid accusations of sexual misconduct (and later fired by the company). The director, David McVicar, said he considered quitting.

This season’s revival has been quieter. But this doesn’t mean things are dully business as usual. The drama is, thankfully, now onstage.

At the performance on Monday, the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky charged into Mr. McVicar’s production and never let go, following a grand entrance with an evening of strong singing and fervent dramatic purpose. Detractors sometimes cite a brittleness in Ms. Radvanovsky’s sound as off-putting. I tend to view this occasional harshness as something she is conscious of and uses dramatically. And her intonation on Monday seemed more consistently secure than in some past appearances at the Met.

Tosca: “Vissi d’arte”Credit...CreditVideo by Metropolitan Opera

During some ascents to high notes, there was a sense of careful planning. But Ms. Radvanovsky got there at the climaxes. And I have not seen her act so well since she appeared in a 2015 revival of David Alden’s production of Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera.”

Her Tosca thrills — and coheres. In the first act, when the character must prove an able seductress while also showing traces of jealousy, Ms. Radvanovsky came up with ingenious ways to make these facets flow together. With discerning placements of breath, she seemed, early on, to laugh at her own insecurities and propensity for distrust, at least in front of her lover, the painter Cavaradossi (here played ably, if not particularly deeply, by the honey-tone tenor Joseph Calleja).

When Cavaradossi’s back was turned, however, this Tosca dropped that lovable, self-conscious mask in brief storms of fury. These quick transitions make this Tosca seem a little jumpy — but Ms. Radvanovsky’s performance is thoughtful, never busy for its own sake. And her approach planted the seeds for a brutally effective second-act showdown with the villain Scarpia.

When this chief of police accuses Tosca of acting a role when she pleads for Cavaradossi’s life, we know he’s wrong: We’ve seen what it looks like when this diva is in machination mode. The stakes are appropriately high for Tosca’s “Vissi d’arte,” and Ms. Radvanovsky delivered a subtle and affecting rendition of the aria, using her practiced soft-into-loud vocal tricks only sparingly.

Making his Met debut as Scarpia, the baritone Claudio Sgura muddled through some lower passages, turning the character into something of a functionary, instead of an evil force of nature. This Scarpia’s sadism is more courtly than glowering; some more supple singing from Mr. Sgura in the second act gave intriguing glimpses of smugness. Still, this was always Ms. Radvanovsky’s show.

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Yonghoon Lee, left, as Don José and Clémentine Margaine in the title role of Bizet’s “Carmen.”Credit...Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

It was more difficult to say which character ruled the Met’s revival of Bizet’s “Carmen” on Tuesday. By the third act, it was clear that top singing honors belonged to the soprano Guanqun Yu, as Micaëla. Her showcase aria, “Je dis que rien,” had true glamour thanks to a tone of lean, quick-witted elegance, as well the occasional, well-placed touch of luster.

Much of the rest of the show felt rote, or wobbly. Though she appeared in this production last season, the mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine seemed to struggle with some of the blocking during the Habanera. While she focused on hitting her marks, some descending flourishes strayed off pitch. As Don José, the tenor Yonghoon Lee had enough volume for the Met. But the ringing quality of his voice was too often pushed to strident ends that blotted out the potential for varieties of color.

This Carmen and this Don José collaborated effectively in more tender exchanges. But the garishness elsewhere — and the boisterous pulse of the conductor Omer Meir Wellber, making his house debut — did not enliven Richard Eyre’s staid staging.

Tosca
Carmen
Tosca continues, with this cast, through Nov. 17, and Carmen, with this cast, through Nov. 15 at the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center; 212-362-6000, metopera.org.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section C, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: The Drama Is Back Where It Belongs: Onstage. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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