The Royal Opera has a strong record in recent decades in its revivals, not least of some enduring productions of Puccini. La bohème (in John Copley’s staging), Madama Butterfly and Turandot have all benefited and a fine Il trittico – and a forgotten La fanciulla del West – should be resurrected.
Jonathan Kent's Tosca, with handsome designs by Paul Brown, is by my count on its ninth return. Though Act 2 seems to have got darker, we can still make out some of the details in the Palazzo Farnese’s sinister court of coercion. We are in Rome in 1800 alright, and a nasty place it is for Republicans. Tosca is revived so often because from that opening brutal Scarpia motif onwards it never fails to grip an audience. Or almost never.
Tosca was sung by Aušrinė Stundytė, notionally making her Royal Opera debut. Except that during the recent Elektra run, Nina Stemme was indisposed, and who better to stand in for the title role than the Lithuanian soprano who had most recently sung it in Salzburg? That was a success for her, and should be remembered as the true debut that it was, rather than this occasion. Stundytė’s recent biography lists works in Russian, German, Hungarian, Czech, even English (Dido). But her only Italian opera of any era seems to be this one.
Stundytė's histrionic range is wide, and she was impressive when being devout, devoted, jealous, murderous and finally, naively trusting. She deployed that famous gown and its train like a spirited diva at times, but missed the scorn in lines such as “this is Tosca’s kiss” as she stabbed Scarpia. However, in her line “before him all Rome trembled” over his corpse, she observed Puccini’s marked, but often ignored, monotone. Act 2 is essentially Tosca contra Scarpia and the libretto implies some brief relish in her temporary victory. Her Act 1 singing was accomplished much of the time, but in Act 2 she did not make the most of “Vissi d’arte”, lacking the thrill that comes from a compelling shape towards its climax. But there are plenty of intriguing (and obscure) roles she sings that would make a welcome return to The Royal Opera.
Her Cavaradossi was the Argentinian tenor Marcelo Puente, not perhaps in his best voice, with some awkwardness moving between registers. But his Act 2 “Vittoria” was a treat, for rarely has Bonaparte’s triumph at Marengo been celebrated so loud and so long, or certainly not by anyone so recently tortured. “E lucevan le stelle” was a bit hurried (though the superb clarinet introduction had shown the right pace and lyrical line). He and Stundytė were fine though in their unaccompanied unison near the end of Act 3, as exultant as the horns which launched the act with that same theme.
Baron Scarpia was once again sung by Italian baritone Gabriele Viviani, (like the composer, born in Lucca), and since his debut here in 2009 as Marcello has returned to sing Sharpless in the aforementioned Puccini productions. So a veteran now whose entire repertory seems to be 19th-century Italian opera. This showed in his committed singing, the tang of the language clear in some biting diction. Perhaps his Scarpia had too much bite, and he pushed Tosca around in a way unbecoming a Chief of Police who holds all the cards and with henchmen lurking in the gloom. Some sinister suavity would be welcome among the threats. Villainy can embrace subtlety, and Viviani showed us how effective that can be in his Act 1 interactions with Tosca, still forming his plan at the start of this long single day destined to be their last for all the leads.
The other debutant was Karen Kamensek, familiar in Britain for conducting modern American works at the English and the Welsh National Operas. From the outset we were in highly competent hands, driving the score forwards, relaxing for the lyrical moments. She was attentive in following the singers, and skilful in setting things right on occasion, such as when Cavaradossi got momentarily ahead of the beat during his second aria. The orchestra played very well indeed for her. If overall the dramatic power and emotional temperature of this performance dipped below the norm for this work, that did not emanate from the pit. More likely it was opening night tensions, and there is quite enough vocal talent involved to provide some stronger evenings during the run.
