“Taffia Tosca” burns with Welsh fire

Sir Bryn Terfel (Scarpia) and Natalya Romaniw (Tosca)

Aled Hall (Spoletta) and Sir Bryn Terfel (Scarpia)

Natalya Romaniw (Tosca) and SeokJong Baek (Cavaradossi)

Maurizio Muraro (Sacristan) and chorus

Natalya Romaniw (Tosca)

Natalya Romaniw (Tosca) and Sir Bryn Terfel (Scarpia)

By Mark Pullinger, 27 November 2024

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“savouring the text which rolls around his tongue like his favourite ‘vin di Spagna’”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 26 November 2024

Puccini, Tosca

The Royal Opera

Eun Sun Kim, Conductor

Jonathan Kent, Director

Paul Brown, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Mark Henderson, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Royal Opera Chorus

Simon Iorio, Revival Director

Natalya Romaniw, Floria Tosca

SeokJong Baek, Mario Cavaradossi

Sir Bryn Terfel, Baron Scarpia

Ossian Huskinson, Cesare Angelotti

Aled Hall, Spoletta

Jamie Woollard, Sciarrone

Maurizio Muraro, Sacristan

John Morrissey, A Jailer

Tharuni Kalavannan, Shepherd Boy

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Dominic Lowe, 13th May

With Aigul Akhmetshina and Seokjong Baek in the title roles, there are reasons to be optimistic, but The Royal Opera’s revival of Richard Jones’ production is a mixed bag.

***11

Peter Grimes drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

Christopher Woodley, 5th May

Allan Clayton and Sir Bryn Terfel lead a strong cast in a revival of Deborah Warner's dark staging of Britten's signature work at Covent Garden.

****1

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Eleanor Knight, 1st May

Tales of love and loss as operas by Elena Langer, Charlotte Bray and Elizabeth Maconchy form a varied triple bill in this showcase for The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Artists.

****1

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Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

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Dominic Lowe, 25th March

Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

****1

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David Karlin, 17th March

A revelatory orchestral performance and a cast led by Andreas Schager, Christopher Maltman and Elisabeth Strid make this a Siegfried for the record books.

*****

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

The Royal Opera's “Taffia Tosca” burns with Welsh fire in excellent revival