Tosca – Ellen Kent Opera International

There are plenty of Ellen Kent touches in this richly melodramatic ‘Tosca’. Crowds of children (all future audiences), livestock (a bird of prey will appear in larger theatres), a powerful villain, creepy around women, and a pervading sense of menace! There is an impressive set, massive pillars and a glimpse of Saint Peter’s through epic bronze doors, splendid costumes and a truly virtuoso orchestra.

The sacristan pottered about his business, a normal, sympathetic character, not the usual buffoon. It was the two lovers who seemed foolish, bickering and fussing. Maria Tonina’s début Tosca starts as a silly thing, making the peril of the escaped prisoner Angelotti seem more out of place, the risks all the more daring. Enter Scarpia (Vladimir Dragos), secure and commanding in presence and tone. Against his brutal authority our little Tosca didn’t stand a chance, until her Act II aria ‘Vissi d’arte’ during which her determination rose, even her voice seemed to ripen and bloom, the tragic heroine emerged. Rape, murder and revulsion (captured brilliantly in a shudder with the snare drum) sent Tosca off with a fragile hope.

Could this level of melodrama survive now Scarpia is dead? Well, Caravadossi (Sorin Lupu) and a most beautiful clarinet pinned us to our seats with their aria of despair. The pathos held. Could it all end well? Tosca is silly once more, duped by Scarpia’s cruel ploy. The firing squad shoots, towards the audience, a daring move. Melodrama surges and Tosca is briefly a defiant heroine again!

Theatre Royal Brighton, 5 February 2013

Rating: