Tosca

Synopsis

It is the eve of the Battle of Marengo. Napoleon's army has caused chaos and disarray throughout all Italy. Against this background of political turmoil stands Floria Tosca, Rome's famous and most beautiful opera singer. To save her lover, Cavaradossi, she must sacrifice her virtue to the evil Baron Scarpia. Can the power of love and honour ever prevail against the forces of corruption and betrayal? Tosca is a moving and passionate exploration of personal freedom, the cost of ideals and the choices forced on us by love.

Our Review:

8 October 2012

In the King’s Head Theatre four singers and a trio of instruments make a brave effort to perform Tosca and the outcome is interesting. This is achieved despite an awkward transition from the original Rome in 1800 to 1980s’ GDR in East Berlin. There are some moments which are compelling, and some singing which is extremely fine but there are also some weak points which, on balance, detract from the work’s dramatic thrust towards its ultimate tragedy. I find for example the replacement of the Angelus in Act 1 by The Red Flag rather incongruous, as is the use of a rather smart paper shredder in Act 2, which I suspect was not a piece of equipment the Stasi would be using in 1989. However it very cleverly symbolises the power which Scarpia has to eliminate people.

Full marks must go to Danyal Dhondy for a very workable transposition of Puccini’s orchestration down to a trio admirably played by Elspeth Wilkes (Music Director), William...

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