★★☆☆☆
With a second act entirely devoted to the spectacle of a powerful man forcing himself sexually on a woman, Tosca should have a shocking relevance in the #MeToo era. Unfortunately, nothing shocks in this limp Puccini revival.
It’s the ninth time that the Royal Opera has brought back Jonathan Kent’s production, and you can understand why. The naturalistic sets by the late Paul Brown (to whom the first night was dedicated) are magnificently detailed artworks (though I still puzzle about the huge, enigmatic wing that hovers over the whole show — an avenging angel, perhaps?).
Where, however, are the passionate, impulsive Italians to populate this splendid visual evocation of 1800s Rome? The only historic period that this cast evokes is the dire era before