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Splendidly oily … Natalya Romaniw as Tosca and Roland Wood as Scarpia.
Splendidly oily … Natalya Romaniw as Tosca and Roland Wood as Scarpia. Photograph: James Glossop
Splendidly oily … Natalya Romaniw as Tosca and Roland Wood as Scarpia. Photograph: James Glossop

Tosca review – Scottish Opera's opulent staging still has plenty to say

This article is more than 4 years old

Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Its three central performers make this latest revival of a 40-year-old production feel vital and engaging.

Scottish Opera’s venerable production of Tosca belongs to a different era of opera staging, when faithful recreation of scene was more the order of the day, rather than radical reinterpretation. That said, Anthony Besch’s production, here receiving its umpteenth revival in four decades, has aged remarkably well. Peter Rice’s hyper-realistic sets, which bring the opulence of church/palace/fortress to the stage in loving detail, still look splendid, and if Besch’s decision to update the action to fascist-era 1940s Italy doesn’t seem as radical now as it did 40 years ago, then it is still a choice with something to say about the nature of power and corruption.

If there is a drawback to such an opulent, old-fashioned staging it is the risk it encourages “stand-and-deliver” performances. This was somewhat apparent in the opening night of this production, particularly in the first act, which felt rather static. Gwyn Hughes Jones delivering Cavaradossi’s aria as an old-school set piece wasn’t a problem; however the ensuing violence, particularly when Roland Wood’s Scarpia and his police thugs hassle Paul Carey Jones’s Sacristan, was not believably threatening. And for all its pomp and splendour, Swiss Guards, Cardinals and even a cameo appearance from Il Duce himself, the first-act climax, where Scarpia’s secular moment of triumph is juxtaposed with the religious celebrations, didn’t entirely come off. There was the feeling of the performers finding their way as the menace and drama of the subsequent acts came across as vital and engaging.

Natalya Romaniw as Tosca and Gwyn Hughes Jones as Cavaradossi. Photograph: James Glossop

But for all the sumptuous visuals of the production, this opera succeeds or fails on the strength its three central performers. Scottish Opera has assembled an impressive cast headed by Natalya Romaniw. She was an expressive Tosca, petty and coquettish, vulnerable and vengeful by turn and vocally utterly secure. There was a hint of the pantomime villain to Wood’s splendidly oily, malevolent Scarpia, literally sniffing the air as if aroused by Tosca’s disdain. As Cavaradossi, Hughes Jones came into his own in the final act, his farewell impassioned and noble. Underpinning it all was the Orchestra of Scottish Opera and conductor Stuart Stratford who gave a lithe, responsive reading of Puccini’s score.

At Theatre Royal, Glasgow, until 26 October. Then touring until 23 November.

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