Over the top: revamped Tosca returns to the Theatre in the Woods

Izabela Matula (Tosca)

Brett Polegato (Scarpia)

Justin Jacobs, Brett Polegato, Thomas Isherwood (Sciarrone), Otar Jorjikia, Robin Horgan Spoletta)

Izabela Matula (Tosca) and Brett Polegato (Scarpia)

Izabela Matula (Tosca) and Otar Jorjikia (Cavaradossi)

Andrew Slater (Sacristan) and the Grange Park Opera Chorus

By Mark Pullinger, 11 June 2023

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“Izabela Matula... a severe Tosca who eats chiefs of police for breakfast”

Reviewed at The Theatre in the Woods, West Horsley on 10 June 2023

Puccini, Tosca

Grange Park Opera

Mark Shanahan, Conductor

Stephen Medcalf, Director

Francis O'Connor, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Tim Mitchell, Lighting Designer

BBC Concert Orchestra

Grange Park Opera Chorus

Izabela Matuła, Floria Tosca

Otar Jorjikia, Mario Cavaradossi

Brett Polegato, Baron Scarpia

Alan Ewing, Cesare Angelotti

Andrew Slater, Sacristan

Robin Horgan, Spoletta

Thomas Isherwood, Sciarrone

Katie Macdonald, Shepherd Boy

Taj Mahal by Nishat Khan premieres at Grange Park Opera

David Karlin, 10th July

Scion of generations of sitar players, Nishat Khan is the perfect person to tell the "greatest love story never told" behind India's most iconic building.

***11

Ukraine matters: Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa at Grange Park Opera

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

Why is Tchaikovsky’s very fine opera still a rarity outside Russia? David Pountney directs a new production at the Surrey festival.

****1

Pountney’s vivid Simon Boccanegra at Grange Park Opera

Mark Pullinger, 5th June

Sir David Pountney's 1997 staging for Welsh National Opera is given a welcome new lease of life at Grange Park Opera, splendidly cast... with one major exception.

****1

A confusing operatic take on The Tempest at Grange Park Opera

Nick Boston, 11th July

Strong vocal and orchestral performances, supported by impressive visuals, struggle to bring coherency to Anthony Bolton's Island of Dreams at Grange Park Opera.

***11

An impressive, minimalist Kátya Kabanová at Grange Park Opera

David Karlin, 27th June

A memorable performance, with Stephen Barlow conducting Janáček’s remarkable score with vividness and clarity, while David Alden's staging is a masterpiece of "less is more".

****1

Aleko on the Arno: Bryn Terfel leads fine new GPO double bill

Roy Westbrook, 6th June

An unlikely pairing opens Grange Park Opera's season, the two works united by the dominant central character of each opera – Sir Bryn Terfel.

****1

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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.