Review: Tosca (Puccini/Opera Australia)

If you have a look over the Sydney Opera House website for the next few months, you’ll notice that Opera Australia is running a sizeable array of performances for summer, the most attended of which will no doubt be the free performance of Opera in the Domain at the end of January. It is certainly a challenging notion to undertake a variety of performances, but one that allows the opera company to flourish in all different directions. Tosca, under a more modern direction from Christopher Alden, is no exception. As with any performance, it is open to criticism, but this review in particular will focus a little further to include what was apparently a rocky opening for the show in Sydney.

Opera Australia’s current run of Tosca appears modernised from the very beginning, but to what end we cannot be sure. Though the set appears to be reminiscent of the period during, and directly after, World War II, there is a colour television set in the security booth, and a mobile phone is used in a later scene. The context of the plot would line-up with wartime, but the technology used does not. One is also led to wonder why, in an Italy which uses such modern devices, the preferred method of execution is hanging or, as a second resort, death by firing squad. Though the set is updated to a rundown chapel with aging religious kitsch, the script itself calls for such antiquities and there is a clear clash between the source material, and the adaptation itself. We will come to the ending, and other alterations in a moment.

It seems that in his attempt to recreate Tosca as the story of Scarpia, accentuated as more of a Norman Bates character than a typical dirty official, the roles have lost some of their emotional impact. Rosario La Spina and Takesha Meshé Kizart (Cavaradossi and Tosca respectively) do a wonderful job filling their roles but their love seemed somewhat controlled and constricted, a flashback to more traditional performances whereby the operatic components propelled the storyline more than the dramatic. Perhaps this version of the show was not the best for showcasing their talents, as they seemed to pale in comparison to the overbearing jealousy of John Wegner‘s Scarpia. One wonders whether Kizart, in her scenes with Wegner, felt empowered by the dramatic coupling, for her performance excelled in these scenes, particularly following Scarpia’s death. It is a shame that the most emotional connection felt appears to be between two enemies, rather than the lovers which this tragedy is hinged upon.

The star of this performance is, without a doubt, the salaciously lascivious Scarpia. The decision to take a piece written during a time period heavily governed by organised religion, and update it to allow Scarpia to desecrate a bust of the Virgin Mary through simulated fellatio is extremely effective, but may not play so well with the traditionalists. It is a calculated risk which paints Scarpia perfectly as the jealous man in power, a character who easily puts the lump in our throats as he gets ready to take Tosca by force. Even in death he resonates as the overarching performer, powerfully dominating the stage even when slumped in a chair, waiting. Wegner plays the role perfectly, strutting lecherously across the stage as a man who accepts his age and breathes his virility. It must be also noted that Warwick Fyfe, as Sacristan, plays very well against Scarpia’s character in his apathetic portrayal of a man who seems to care less whether Cavaradossi lives or dies.

Alternative direction is risky with anything which has entered the sub-cultural consciousness to the extent of Puccini’s opera. Lyndon Terracini is quick to point out that Tosca also received some heavy-handed criticism when it first debuted and I’m inclined to think that maybe there is some similarity between the two events. While the Sydney Morning Herald reported that perhaps opening night boos (which, it must be noted, were accompanied by standing ovations) were in response to the alternate ending, I believe there’s more to it than that. The issue with the ending is simple. In the original, Tosca pays for Scarpia’s death with her life by leaping to her death. In this remake, Tosca is shot.

Tosca’s suicide carries heavy connotations within the narrative. It characterises her as a woman who feels guilty for divulging information which found her lover murdered, for being unjustly jealous, and for killing a man in revenge. Her execution rids her character of the overwhelming guilt which suicide entails, and merely paints the last scene as the typical tragedy. To see Tosca slide slowly down the wall (after being shot at point blank range in the temple) seemed unbelievable and disappointing for the emotions which the narrative sets out to achieve.

However, I do not believe the booing was as a direct result of that ending shift. The theory of connotations requires an afterthought which would not have occurred before the audience response was given. I think the fact that it was criticised during the curtain call, as opposed to by letter later, was due to an earlier occurrence. Specifically, the aforementioned act of simulated fellatio. It is not hard to offend someone who is a lover of traditional direction for all it takes is simple divergence. While Scarpia’s character was indeed strengthened by the lascivious acts he relished, they were a bold move towards the separation of church and state. They paint Scarpia as a man who rejects the symbolism of Catholicism, playing very well against Tosca’s apparent piety, and, while I felt uncomfortable and had no further objection, I can understand why such a portrayal may be seen as too insensitive a departure from what is considered, in some circles, a seminal text.

My final word is far from final. Obviously there are those who disagreed with what I believed were the strongest elements (though there was no booing whatsoever the night I attended) and those who loudly praised Takesha Meshé Kizart throughout the curtain call, though I thought John Wegner, and the oft-silent Sian Pendry were stronger performances. I think Terracini would agree with me when I say, such is art. It should compel you through a myriad of emotional responses. It should thrill and disgust, heaven forbid we find ourselves expecting an opera to be meek and fade into obscurity. If Alden’s only objective was to cause a stir, he has greatly succeeded. See it, and feel gratified that you are incited to disgust or glee, for such things are becoming harder and harder to come by in regular performances.

Tosca will continue to run at the Sydney Opera House on the following dates:

January 20, 26, 29; February 2, 5, 11, 16, 19, 24; March 6, 9, 13, 15, 18, 22
1PM Matinees on January 23; February 27; March 27