Muted passions in Royal Opera Tosca revival

Aušrinė Stundytė (Tosca)

Aušrinė Stundytė (Tosca) and Gabriele Viviani (Scarpia)

Marcelo Puente (Cavaradossi)

Tosca, Act 3

Gabriele Viviani (Scarpia) and Royal Opera Chorus

By Roy Westbrook, 06 February 2024

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“Stundytė... deployed that famous gown and its train like a spirited diva at times”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 5 February 2024

Puccini, Tosca

The Royal Opera

Karen Kamensek, 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

Aušrinė Stundytė, Floria Tosca

Marcelo Puente, Mario Cavaradossi

Gabriele Viviani, Baron Scarpia

Grisha Martirosyan, Cesare Angelotti

Henry Waddington, Sacristan

Peter Hoare, Spoletta

Jamie Woollard, Sciarrone

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Eleanor Knight, 26th March

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*****

A riveting Rigoletto revival at the Royal Opera House

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

Siegfried at the RBO: Kosky and Pappano surprise and delight

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.

*****

Terfel’s craggy Boris Godunov returns to Covent Garden

Mark Pullinger, 29th January

The second revival of Richard Jones' staging of Mussorgsky's original 1869 version of Boris Godunov once again stars the Welsh knight.

****1

Ermonela Jaho returns in triumph to The Royal Opera’s Traviata

Mark Valencia, 8th January

Richard Eyre’s 32-year-old production is rarely out of The Royal Opera’s repertoire for more than a few months at a time, but this particular revival proves very special.

*****

Turandot drowned in an orchestral tsunami at The Royal Opera

David Karlin, 15th December

Andrei Șerban’s 40 year old take on Puccini's tale of the ice princess largely stands the test of time, but Netrebko and Eyvazov are short of their best form.

***11

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Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.