Mark Delevan as Scarpia, Lianna Haroutounian as Tosca. Photos by Cory Weaver. |
October 26, 2014
I am terribly fond of dynamic phrasing and crafted singing,
but there are times when you can’t beat sheer power. SFO’s latest Tosca is the
perfect example, featuring a memorable company debut by Armenian soprano Lianna
Haroutounian, a pint-size singer who fills the hall to the rafters. She is
joined by tenor Brian Jagde, whose forceful lirico spinto was such a memorable
factor in the company’s recent Madama Butterfly, and baritone Mark Delevan, who
played Wotan in the company’s 2011 Ring Cycle. (Needless to say, timid
baritones do not play Wotan.)
Brian Jagde as Cavaradossi, Lianna Haroutounian as Tosca. |
I’m always intrigued by Baron Scarpia, a character who can
undergo all kinds of interesting shifts, depending on the performer. I’ve seen
legitimate takes on Scarpia as a Giovanni-esque antihero (notably by James Morris),
as well as several in the greasy weasel department. Delevan, befitting a Wotan,
plays the part with Darth Vader force. I swear, when he entered with his
black-cloaked henchmen, hot on the trail of the escaped prisoner Angelotti, I
could hear the old Monty Python line, “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!”
Tenor Joel Sorenson plays his right-hand man Spoletta with a full supply of
nervous tics – understandable, since the boss reacts to his failure by holding
a knife to his throat.
Haroutounian’s spunky intensity serves her well, maximizing
the humor of her first-act jealousies (the same jealousies that will undo them
all) and adding fire to the second-act faceoff with Scarpia. The difference in
size alone delivers a striking David-and-Goliath visual. Which leads to…
SPOILER ALERT!!! The stabbing is excellent, accomplished as
Scarpia descends over her on the settee, with a bonus back-plunge as he
stumbles across the room. Don’t mess
with Armenian sopranos, bruddah. (Kudos to fight director Dave Maier.) Which
leads to…
SPOILER ALERT II!!!! Floria’s leap from the parapet is a
rather elegant swan dive. Nicely done.
Dale Travis as the Sacristan. |
Bass-baritone Dale Travis has played the Sacristan all over
the country, and endows this small, important role with some interesting elements:
a shuffling, quirky walk, a humorously stern relation with his altar boys, and
a suitably terrified response to Scarpia. The poor man visibly shakes, giving a
good hint at just how horrific the Baron can be.
Delevan excels in the Te Deum (Puccini’s delicious mixing of
the sacred and the profane), and in Scarpia’s Act II anti-romance, outlining
his preference for the rape-and-conquer approach as opposed to the effeminate
ways of courtship. Jagde delivers an expectedly impassioned “E lucevan le stelle.”
And Haroutounian gives “Vissi d’arte” a subdued opening, allowing extra room
for the expansive climax, and inspiring a vision of the aria’s place in the
opera. Sardou’s famous potboiler play places its heroine in one impossible
dilemma after another: let her boyfriend be tortured to death, or seal
Angelotti’s fate by confessing his whereabouts; let Cavaradossi die before a
firing squad, or give herself to the disgusting Scarpia. What all this pressure
eventually produces is a diamond, and the name of the diamond is “Vissi
d’arte.”
Thierry Bosquet's first-act set. |
Conducted by Riccardo Frizza, directed by Jose Maria
Condemi. Production design by Thierry Bosquet.
Through Nov. 8, War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness
Avenue, San Francisco. $25-$370, www.sfopera.com,
415/864-3330.
Michael J. Vaughn is a 30-year opera critic and author of
the best-selling Amazon Kindle novel The Popcorn Girl.
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