Karita Mattila sang her first Tosca some four years ago at the
Finnish National Opera in Helsinki and was greatly admired by
Bill Kenny (see review).
She was then already scheduled to sing the role at the Met.
Finnish opera lovers were obviously just as overwhelmed as Bill
and, as he concluded his review, they ‘are booking already
to follow her to New York’. I have no idea how many compatriots
actually were there for the opening night, but those who were
not, were, I hope, able to see the live broadcast and those
who couldn’t manage that have a golden opportunity with
this DVD. Bill wrote about the Helsinki performance that it
‘turned out to be the most subtle and sensitive portrayal
of Puccini's diva heroine seen for many a long year.
Mattila's Tosca isn't merely the confident opera star: she's
a woman deeply in love whose jealousy is tentative, touching
and understandable rather than strident and angry. She's impossible
not to like’. I couldn’t agree more.
The first winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition
in 1983 she has just turned fifty but there are no signs of
vocal decline. On the contrary her voice has gained further
spinto quality while retaining the lyrical bloom and
sensitivity. Always a good actor she had been accused of over-acting
during the first performances in Helsinki, according to Bill’s
review. Well, she doesn’t exactly play the role straight
and even I thought she was over the top, but to me Tosca is,
and has always been, the epitome of a character on the verge
of a break-down, of total chaos and hysteria. Being an artist,
she knows how to express her feelings in a larger-than-life
manner. To stand up against the tyrannical Scarpia requires
a tigress, barely hiding her claws and in the second act Mattila
mentally arches her back against the Chief of Police’s
advances. But she can be loving and joyful in the first act
duets with Cavaradossi - and jealous! Sparks fly visually when
she identifies the portrait of the Madonna. She is so vulnerable
and helpless in Vissi d’arte, determined in her
search for the safe-conduct and in the last act confident and
almost overbearing - until she realizes that the fake execution
wasn’t a fake at all. This is as rounded a portrait of
Floria Tosca as one can ever expect to see - and with singing
to match. But, again, this is my personal view and I have even
seen Tosca in a concert performance long ago with a Tosca,
who had the looks and bearing of Callas but sang the role almost
motionless, score in hand, and still could convey all the emotions
with her voice and her facial expressions. I remember reading
some negative reviews from the Met premiere and wasn’t
too hopeful when I started my reviewing séance. I may
have nerves of steel but I didn’t understand what the
fuss was about.
As on the recommendable Tosca
DVD from Verona, recorded in July 2006, Marcelo Alvarez is an
admirable Cavaradossi, ardent and thrilling but with lyrical
softness and creamy tone that allows him to sing a ravishing
E lucevan le stele and, an even more enchanting, O
dolci mani. He is no mean actor and makes the painter come
alive and stand out as something more than a good tenor singing
good arias.
The great surprise is however the Georgian baritone George Gagnidze,
whom I had never heard before. He has already made his mark
in several big opera houses, including La Scala and The Metropolitan,
where he was a superb Rigoletto during the 2008-2009 season.
I can understand the superlatives I have read, since here is
a singer with a well schooled and expansive baritone, dark in
the lower register but with almost tenoral brilliance at the
top. He is an expressive actor as well, working with rather
restrained means and he knows how to colour a phrase memorably.
His Scarpia was no cardboard villain but a monster of flesh
and blood; yes, even with a glimpse of human warmth. I have
seen many great Scarpias live through the years, including Ingvar
Wixell in the 1970s and in recent years Juha Uusitalo and Sergei
Leiferkus, all of them deep-probing actors as well as formidable
singers. George Gagnidze on this hearing and viewing might well
join their company.
The rest of the cast is fully acceptable, though the well-seasoned
Paul Plishka may seem over-ripe vocally these days. But a good
Sacristan first of all needs stage presence and charisma and
Plishka has both in abundance.
So far so good then, but there were other disappointments. This
production replaced an old and much loved one, signed Zeffirelli,
which I haven’t seen. Knowing some of his other productions,
not least the spectacular Turandot, which I saw at the
Met a year ago, I have an idea of what could be expected. Where
Zeffirelli is lavish, Peduzzi is merely dull, functional with
no frills. And Luc Bondy, who allegedly has declared that he
doesn’t like this opera, clearly shows this in an unimaginative
reading. I wonder why he accepted the task in the first place.
So readers who want Tosca to be a feast for the eye as
well as for the ear should be warned. They are best advised
to avoid this set completely or at least try to see some glimpses
of it first (see Youtube).
A far better proposition is the Verona production mentioned
above. But for great singing of the three central roles and
with conducting that in no way lets the performance down, the
present set is well worth owning. And you can always listen
to it without the visuals …
Göran Forsling
Karita Mattila (soprano) - Tosca; Marcelo Álvarez (tenor)
- Cavaradossi; David Pittsinger (bass) - Angelotti; Paul Plishka
(bass) - Sacristan; George Gagnidze (baritone) - Scarpia; Joel Sorensen
(tenor) - Spoletta; James Courtney (baritone) - Sciarrone; Jonathan
Makepeace (treble) - Shepherd; Keith Miller (bass) - Jailer; The
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Joseph Colaneri 
6419739 [137:00] 
