The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

Recent posts

SF Opera’s Tosca

Sf-opera-tosca-actiii1-2014* Notes * 
Another revival of Tosca (Brian Jagde as Cavaradossi and Mark Delavan as Scarpia in Act III pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened last night at San Francisco Opera. Lianna Haroutounian had a fine debut on the War Memorial stage as Floria Tosca. She clearly has an emotional connection to the role and this was palpable even from the very back of the house. Her singing is passionate and her voice has strength yet can be sweet. Cavaradossi suits Brian Jagde, and his gleaming voice was a good match for Haroutounian. On the other hand, Mark Delavan seemed somewhat shaky, especially at first. His Scarpia is certainly gritty and cruel.

The rest of the cast was quite good. Dale Travis is always funny as the Sacristan and Joel Sorensen mincing yet threatening as Spoletta. Adlers Efraín Solís (Sciarrone) and Hadleigh Adams (Jailer) also sang well.

Riccardo Frizza conducted a rapid orchestra that had a lovely transparency of sound. The clarinets and bassoons were particularly wonderful in Act II. The harp sounded clear throughout the performance, as did the strings.

The opera house seemed full and the audience was enthused. This time-honored production, directed by Jose Maria Condemi, is a crowd-pleaser.

* Tattling * 
The audience was mostly quiet, but there was a man in the back of the balcony who had to make sure the people around him knew to pay attention to "Vissi d'arte" and "E lucevan le stelle."

Posted in , , , ,

4 responses to “SF Opera’s Tosca”

  1. Vajra Avatar
    Vajra

    Previewing your Comment
    Vajra
    I know that the audience loved it, but this Tosca seemed rather stolid to me. I thought Brian Jagde was the best thing in the opera, along with the boy singer. I found Haroutounian very hard to take in the upper register; I actually winced at some of the high notes. And Mark Delavan was majorly underwhelming. I also think that Dale Travis could push it up a notch: his Sacristan is becoming kitsch.
    One person I spoke with as I left was amazed at the acting. I, too, was amazed, but not in a good way. Word. When you are singing a romantic duet, it’s best to look at each other, rather than at the audience; Haratouniaun and Jagde seemed like they’d not been introduced rather than as a couple deeply in love. Delavan was so wooden that I was not certain whether he was sitting at the desk or was the desk: brutal rather than corrupt. Also can we please eliminate the candles and cross? It’s enough to say “E avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma!” and leave. The drama is enhanced rather than leaving us to wonder why she is so tender toward her abuser.
    I love this production but the lighting designer needs to decide where dawn is. It’s actually unusual for Dawn to descend as it does in this opera.

    Like

    Reply
  2. simon Avatar
    simon

    Haroutounian was absolutely wonderful!!(Look here)
    “..Outstanding company debut in Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian’s vocally voluptuous Floria Tosca. As was warranted, the greatest outbursts of applause went to Lianna Haroutounian for her sumptuous singing as Tosca, a role in which she offered superb vocalism featuring brilliant high notes and lush low notes.Haroutounian has already sung at Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and makes her New York Met debut later this year…San Francisco Opera has given us a taut, musically rich and dram-atically intense production of Tosca, one featuring yet another bright new star in Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian.”
    http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2014-10-24/article/42625?headline=Another-Stirring-Soprano-Debut-in-San-Francisco-Opera-s-TOSCA–Reviewed-by-James-Roy-MacBean

    Like

    Reply
  3. Sacto OperaFan Avatar
    Sacto OperaFan

    A few thoughts on Sa, 11/1, performance.
    IMO: I thought L Haroutounian was very good. Good loud voice – not particularly beautiful or unique; but good tone and as far as I could tell no breaks between the registers. Some have commented that she is shrill at the very top of the voice. I did not hear this; but everybody hears differently I think. I for one don’t care for Renata Scotto’s voice, to my ear it’s has an unpleasant edge to it that I find shrill-ish. But she has many fans. Overall I liked Haroutounian’s voice; one of the better new ones I’ve heard in recent years.
    I had heard B Jagde in Tosca when he sang it a few years ago with Racette. I was more impressed with his voice in 2012 then I was last night. He has a good sound and the voice has a nice ring to it at forte; but it seems to be just a tad bit too small for SFO. I thought at times he had to push to be heard. I would hate for him to ruin his voice prematurely as it’s a nice one. As others have pointed out he was best in his two big arias.
    M Delavan’s Scarpia was fine, but to me not memorable. I liked the boy who sang the shepard’s song at the beginning of the 3rd Act; I suspect he was in the orchestra pit. I sit rather close to the stage this year, so he was loud and clear. I particularly liked Hadleigh Adams. Wished he had a longer role so one would hear more of his voice.
    I think this is certainly one of the better Toscas I’ve seen and I’ve seen quite a few. I’m glad I had the chance to see this one.

    Like

    Reply
  4. Roberto Avatar
    Roberto

    For the record, I found Delavan’s performance memorable. I liked him on that production a couple of years ago with Racette and I liked him yesterday. He has everything I want from Scarpia. His Italian is also quite good. Bravo Mr Delavan.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment