There is a moment at the end of the first act of the new production of Tosca that opened Saturday at Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Road, Webster Groves; 314-961-0644; experienceopera.org) that manages to be genuinely shocking — no small feat in an age when nothing shocks.
Our villain, the louche police chief Scarpia, sings about his plans to execute the heroic painter Cavaradossi and force himself upon the painter’s mistress, Tosca. This is what Scarpia has always done at the end of Act I, for the 123 years that Tosca has been mounted on the stage. But this production offers a new twist. This Scarpia is visibly excited by his wicked plans — and as the scene comes to its climax, Scarpia deploys Tosca’s discarded white satin glove and, well, finishes the act.
Rest assured, the scene is tastefully staged, but it’s not every day you see a villain masturbating as he sings about his skulduggery, and therein lies the brilliance of James Robinson’s direction. Opera Theatre’s artistic director has had triumph after triumph in recent years, including 2019’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones (which he then restaged at the Met) and last year’s first-rate Harvey Milk. Tosca continues his hot streak. For Robinson, breathing new life into this classic doesn’t require the elaborate reconfiguring sometimes seen in the opera world — setting the action on a yacht in the 1920s, say, or a spaceship hurtling to Mars. Instead, it comes in finding the psychosexual horror right there in the century-old libretto and having the audacity to bring it to the surface. What makes the moment such a jaw-dropper is not just the clever choreography; it’s also true to Tosca, true to Scarpia and true to the solipsism inside us all.
Indeed, the people populating this Tosca are not fools in old-style hats and coats, to crib from Larkin. They feel as real as you or me. If a villain’s operatic solo is designed to let us see inside his soul, Robinson lets us see all the way in.
From the beginning, this Tosca forces us to pay attention. There’s no overture; we’re immediately thrust into the action, and the brilliantly ominous set by Allen Moyer (who also did the costumes) evokes Rome in 1800 without a hint of kitsch. The vibe is Catholic Gothic — during Scarpia’s big Act I solo, we can hear sacred chants echoing from a nearby church. “Tosca, you make me forget God!” Scarpia sings in response. Anyone who knows opera knows at that point that he’s headed to eternal torment, and good riddance.
The fact we not only believe in his damnation, but in the terrible sequence his lust unleashes is not just due to the gorgeous Puccini score but the talents of the cast, beginning with Hunter Enoch, who is simply terrific as Scarpia. The excellence continues to the other members of this lust triangle. As Cavaradossi, Robert Stahley convincingly goes from cocky painter to doomed political prisoner, with a voice so strong and clear it renders the supertitles unnecessary. He is matched note for note by soprano Katie Van Kooten, making a huge impression in her Opera Theatre debut as the title character. In big moments, the power in the three leads’ voices feels like it could blow the roof off the Loretto-Hilton Center — and the applause on opening night was appropriately thunderous.
It’s been 20 years since Opera Theatre has performed Tosca, and you can see why General Director Andrew Jorgenson might have resisted. What more can be done with a chestnut like this? What good can come of yet another version of an opera so well-known?
To be sure, this year’s reimagining of the long-forgotten Treemonisha is the bid for greatness, the one the national press is coming to St. Louis to see. But in Robinson’s hands, Tosca doesn’t just seize our imagination. It reminds us of the thrill of a great opera — and the dirty stain at the core of our existences. If only modern-day villains had Puccini’s accompaniment for their wankery!
ToscaMusic by Giacomo Puccini. Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. English translation by Kelley Rourke. Directed by James Robinson. Presented at Opera Theatre of St. Louis through June 25. Showtimes vary. Tickets are $15 to $142.
Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
