Opera North revives its taut, terrific Tosca

Giselle Allen (Tosca) and Robert Hayward (Scarpia)

Giselle Allen (Tosca) and Mykhailo Malafii (Cavaradossi)

Robert Hayward (Scarpia) and Giselle Allen (Tosca)

Bella Blood (Shepherd Boy) and Mykhailo Malafii (Cavaradossi)

By Mark Valencia, 23 January 2023

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“Giselle Allen's Floria Tosca dominates the opera from diva to diver...”

Reviewed at Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds on 21 January 2023

Puccini, Tosca

Opera North

Joana Carneiro, Conductor

Edward Dick, Director

Tom Scutt, Set Designer

Fotini Dimou, Costume Designer

Lee Curran, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of Opera North

Chorus of Opera North

Giselle Allen, Floria Tosca

Robert Hayward, Baron Scarpia

Mykhailo Malafii, Mario Cavaradossi

Callum Thorpe, Cesare Angelotti

Matthew Stiff, Sacristan

Alex Banfield, Spoletta

Ross McInroy, A Jailer

Richard Mosley-Evans, Sciarrone

Maxine Braham, Choreography

John Findon triumphs in the return of Opera North’s Peter Grimes

Richard Wilcocks, 13th February

Benjamin Britten’s dark masterpiece Peter Grimes returns triumphantly to Opera North, conducted by Gary Walker and revived by Karolina Sofulak and Tim Claydon.

*****

Opera North’s Susanna: how a woman stood up to her abusers

Richard Wilcocks, 4th October

Handel's oratorio is staged by Olivia Fuchs and conducted by Johanna Soller in Opera North's latest successful collaboration with Phoenix Dance Theatre.

****1

To be or not to be: Hamlet returns to the Buxton Festival

Mark Pullinger, 16th July

After 45 years, Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet returns to Buxton in a gripping, psychological staging by Jack Furness.

****1

Opera North’s “fleeing” Dutchman links to plight of asylum seekers

Richard Wilcocks, 1st February

Opera North’s The Flying Dutchman, directed by Annabel Arden, conjures up frightening storms and links the production to the plight of asylum seekers.

****1

Opera North’s gleeful Magic Flute revived

Richard Wilcocks, 27th September

Conducted by Christoph Konz and directed by James Brining, Opera North’s revival of The Magic Flute remains an inventive reinterpretation of Mozart’s classic opera.

****1

Richard Wilcocks, 15th February

Opera North's revives its Cavalleria rusticana production by Karolina Sofulak, pairing it this time with Rachmaninov's early opera Aleko.

****1

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Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.