Stripping away the varnish: Tosca in Rome

By James Imam, 30 June 2015

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“Act I's Basilica di Sant'Andrea della Valle basks in musty pastel colours and warm light”

Reviewed at Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome on 28 June 2015

Puccini, Tosca

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Donato Renzetti, Conductor

Alessandro Talevi, Director

Adolf Hohenstein, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Virginia Tola, Floria Tosca

Aquiles Machado, Mario Cavaradossi

Claudio Sgura, Baron Scarpia

Saverio Fiore, Spoletta

William Corrò, Cesare Angelotti

Domenico Colaianni, Sacristan

Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Ariadne in Rome: David Hermann’s Strauss staging highlights contrasts

Pia Maltri, 1st March

In an opera rarely staged in Italy, David Hermann skilfully masters the metatheatrical challenges posed by the libretto to Ariadne auf Naxos.

****1

Abandon all hope: Lucia Ronchetti's Inferno receives Italian premiere

Pia Maltri, 19th February

The Italian premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s Inferno at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma uses Dante’s original verses, but her score fails to match their beauty.

***11

Livermore’s successful Bohème opens at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 14th January

Originally staged at the Caracalla Baths in 2014, Davide Livermore’s production comes in from the cold.

****1

Wagner’s Lohengrin finally returns – swanless – to Rome

Pia Maltri, 27th November

Damiano Michieletto is entrusted with the first staging of Lohengrin in Rome for 50 years, but his distracting staging is redeemed by the musical side of things.

***11

Peter Sellars directs Italian debut of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater

Pia Maltri, 11th October

This co-production, previously seen in San Francisco, is more of a semi-staging, convinces thanks to committed performances from a cast led by Fleur Barron.

****1

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James Imam

James Imam is an arts journalist writing for publications including The Financial Times, The Times, Musical America and Opera magazine. He grew up in Manchester, read anthropology at Cambridge and has since lived in Milan. As a once-aspiring countertenor he has an abiding interest in Baroque music.

Stripping away the varnish: Tosca at Rome's Teatro dell'Opera