Performer: Catherine Malfitano

Après sa création au Festival d’Aix-en-Provence cet été, la production de Tosca de Christophe Honoré arrive à l’Opéra de Lyon, dans une mise en scène puissante mais parfois écrasante pour les chanteurs.

This revival of Catherine Malfitano’s excellent 2010 production features some splendid singing from Gwyn Hughes Jones as Cavaradossi – but is let down by some poor diction and varying drama.

For many people, to repeat a commonplace, opera is about those "wow" moments, the times when music, voice and staging come together to lift you onto a different plane. In ENO's Tosca last night, a "wow" moment happened more or less whenever Gwyn Hughes Jones opened his mouth: his Cavaradossi had total heroism, total artistry and effortless, silk-smooth phrasing.