The Opera Tattler

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Tosca at San Francisco Opera

Tosca-pieczonka * Notes * 
The summer part of San Francisco Opera‘s season began last night with Tosca. The 1997 production is based on the one that inaugurated the War Memorial Opera House in 1932, and for that reason, is rather old-fashioned. It was interesting to note the differences between the current revival and the last one, for instance, the trompe-l’œil pyramid of cannonballs is gone from Act III, a welcome change.


The orchestra sounded clean and together under the direction of Marco Armiliato, and the tempi moderate. Lado Ataneli was an animated Scarpia, at times he was underpowered vocally, but for the most part, he sounded hale. On the other hand, the tenor, Carlo Ventre, was more delicate. He had a lot of vibrato, which along with his reedy, plaintive qualities, gave him a certain vulnerability. Ventre sounded weak in contrast to the other singers, but was not bad on his own, as in “E lucevan le stelle.” Adrianne Pieczonka (Tosca) had a fine debut, she only had brief moments harshness, her voice is strong and rich. Her “Vissi d’arte” was brilliant.


* Tattling * 
The audience spoke a bit too much for my taste, but were mostly under control. I was standing in front of someone who talked, almost at full volume, to himself. At least he spoke about the performance, commenting on how beautiful the singing was. Standing room was rather full, as were the seats on the orchestra level, but the boxes looked relatively empty.

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6 responses to “Tosca at San Francisco Opera”

  1. Roberto Avatar
    Roberto

    I went to the 6/11 performance.
    First of all, I’ve always read you complaining about OperaVisions’ high-frequency noise. Yesterday, as soon as the performance started, I could hear that pitch. I sat at the first row of the balcony circle. It was unbearable. It drove my crazy. I was really mad. I stayed the first act trying to articulate with you a petition to remove OperaVision. On the first break, I complained to the usher, who couldn’t care less. Then, I realized that the pitch was coming from a hearing-aid device from someone that was sitting three seats on my left. But then I talked to someone that was sitting completely opposite to me and she told me that could hear the pitch too. Either the pitch came from the OperaVision and hearing-aid, or the guy’s hearing-aid pitch was so powerful that could be heard from everyone or there are several people with hearing-aid devices that produce annoying pitches.
    As for the performance, Ventre sounded like those tenors from the Marx Brothers movies. I really found his voice old fashioned. I could not believe. Adrianne Pieczonka is a singer with great technique. She reminded me Hildegard Behrens, even physically. As for her Italian… I hardly could understand anything she said. Sometimes, her voice was too soft and sometimes too metallic, as if she needed to compensate. In general, I didn’t buy her Tosca. I saw a soprano that could sing all notes very easily, but what was Pieczonka’s contribution to the role?
    Ataneli was a disappointment. The second act is all about chemistry. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. It didn’t happen yesterday. Of course that the bar here is really high because of we are deep into Callas/Gobbi territory. Ataneli should have shattered the walls and frightened us. He didn’t. Sometimes, his voice was actually hard to be heard. What can I say? At least he tried – and you know what? -, it is not an easy role, you have Gobbi’s ghost behind you, you are singing to a major opera house, so that’s ok. In the end, some people booed him. Something that is not common at the War Memorial House. Maybe they want to be in Milan, when booing a singer is chic. I didn’t boo, but I didn’t applaud either.
    I never care much for the third act, but I would say that the final act was the best of all. Ventre surprised me and his “E lucevan le stelle” was breathtaking. The only moment of the night that will be unforgettable. Shortly after, his duet with Tosca was the first time of the performance that I could feel some chemistry. Btw, Ventre’s “vittoria” on the second act was extremely loud. Classical spinto tenor, but with a great “E lucevan le stelle”.
    Armiliato was outstanding conducting the orchestra, which – as always – sounded quite loud.
    As for the minor roles, once again I was impressed by Kenneth Kellogg. This guy I think will be huge.
    The o

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  2. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I think the people booed Ataneli because he is the villain in the opera, not because of his voice.
    Pieczonka is the best Tosca I’ve heard live, but I did like her more in Wagner.

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  3. Roberto Avatar
    Roberto

    //
    I think the people booed Ataneli because he is the villain in the opera, not because of his voice.
    //
    Really??? Interesting. I’ve never heard of that. You may be right. You know this stuff much better than I do.

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  4. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    They booed Scarpia at the matinee on the 14th and Crowne (Porgy and Bess) on 12th too. I’m from out of town but both times, I thought it was a “joke boo” for the villian.

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  5. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    but I had never heard of it (booing the villian) either.

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  6. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    It is pretty common for San Francisco. They booed Pinkerton too, the last time we had Madama Butterfly.

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