An Afternoon of TOSCA At The Lyric Opera
By Suz Evans
We rushed through the door in second hand suits and flashy heels. Matinee tickets call for a different kind of dressing up. I had on a suit that I had purchased from Richard’s Fabulous Finds on North Ave, a vintage dull blue blazer. I wore it with light denim colored cotton pants and dark brown leather boots. Sophia was in a fiery modern day thirties dress, fake alligator pumps and sparkly black socks. We looked and felt amazing. The ushers were at peak pace of scanning tickets and rattling off rights, lefts, letters and numbers. Much to our delight we did not walk up any stairs. Instead we walked down, down, down to the single alphabet rows. I realized we wouldn't be needing the binoculars I brought. The show began as punctually as I had been warned.
Tosca’s conductor, Eun Sun Kim, received a tremendous applause from the audience and especially at the mezzanines. I imagine that the folks who are most interested in the orchestra sit in the mezzanine’s front rows just like in the opening scene of The Red Shoes, how the music students throw themselves over seats to secure the best view of the pit. The mezzanine erupted each time Eun Sun Kim strolled in, turned to them with a smile and a brief wave before she ignited the heartbeat of the orchestra.
Even I am aware that Tosca is the kind of classic opera that satisfies the taste of an older wealthy donor. The sheet music is used in vocal courses, despite there being no hits… and the story is fairly dry. Besides Tosca herself, the only cast members with lines and names are men. Her storyline is developed only by her relationship to men. Who is she devoted to? Who will she protect? Who will violate her? Who will she murder in self defense? Who will she die for? When I examined the rape scene with Sophia, she explained to me in two words, “That’s opera.”
Despite the lackluster nature of classic opera, the cast was phenomenal. Floria Tosca, played by Michelle Bradley, won the hearts of the audience in her first song. Her dynamic voice pulled us from love to jealousy and back again. She easily flips the environment, deftly and dramatically and carries the whole show on her shoulders. This feels not only how the character is written, but how Bradley works the character and the stage. Bradley overflows Tosca with her skill and drama. There is a story of sorts, but it doesn’t feel relevant to our time. The statehood of Italy is represented by Baron Scarpia, played by Fabian Veloz. The revolutionaries are secularist artists. This comrade Angelotti escapes jail and Scarpia is hunting him. Tosca just wants to vibe with her painter lover Cavaradossi, played by Russel Thomas, but he feels compelled to help out his revolutionary friend.
The first intermission was brilliant. They left the curtains up during the transformation of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s set. Some knowledgeable people came up on stage and narrated the big swap through the mics. The whole audience was engaged. People filled the aisles, talking to each other and pointing at the action. I appreciated that the Lyric wanted us to see the work that goes into the set and its movement. They explained how the theater follows certain fire codes and conduct because of the actual lit candles on stage. They showed the floors and ceilings being deconstructed and installed. Hats off to the lighting designer, Duane Schuler. He concocted the right ambiance in the second and third acts.
Eventually Tosca is swindled into telling Scarpia about the Angelotti’s hiding spot on the promise that Cavaradossi won’t be executed. But of course there’s some kind of wink-wink and the firing squad kills him. Before the firing squad, though, Scarpia actually thinks that he had a shot at being Tosca’s man, and he tries to rape her while she can hear her lover being tortured in the other room. This was the scene that really took me for a ride. In what world do we need to see that happen on stage, ever? The only woman in the entire play is perpetrated while in staggering heartbreak. She only ever wanted to take her sexy painter Cavaradossi into the woods and chill in a forested cabin. Her most beautiful first song explains it all. Instead the boys make Tosca a pawn of their power struggle. Scarpia gets what’s coming, of course. Tosca plunges a knife into him and damns him to hell and gets herself into even more trouble.
By the third act all but a few of the characters with names were dead. The orchestra truly filled the entire scene with a tremendous study in horns and clarinet. It was a slow build for the knowing audience. We knew that Cavaradossi was going to be murdered as Tosca delivered the line to her lover, “I want to kiss your eyelids closed,” and Puccini borrows a woman’s love once more.
I will go back to the Lyric. Although the taste of their audience base might be conservative, their performers, singers and musicians, are remarkable. Look into the Lyric’s discounted ticket programs for deals for rush tickets plus discounts for teens, students, young professionals, educators and group passes on their website. Personally I am looking forward to seeing Le Comte Ory and Fiddler on the Roof in the upcoming season.