Intense Tosca finale

[Siedler]

Check this out: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UijJKHKjXeo 
Note the horrific scream when Tosca discovers that Scarpia is dead! The productions looks interesting. This seems to be out on dvd, has anyone bought it yet?

[Sarastro]

This seems to be out on dvd

Oh yes



But I have no will to have it. 

[T-C]

Check this out: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UijJKHKjXeo 
Note the horrific scream when Tosca discovers that Scarpia is dead!

Siedler, in this scene, from the third act, Tosca discovers that her lover, Cavaradossi is dead. Scarpia's death occurs in the second act...

I have this DVD. I enjoyed it a lot.

First of all, there is an outstanding performance from Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Nikolaus Lehnhoff directing is original, powerful and effective.

This was Bryn Terfel debut as Scarpia and he is excellent. Catherine Malfitano is an experienced Tosca. Only Richard Margison is a bit stiff as Cavaradossi, with a little shortage in variety of colors in his singing.

But overall, a very good choice for a DVD version of Tosca, if you ask me...


Here is a review of the DVD from Classics Today:  PUCCINI - TOSCA

[knight66]

TC, thanks, onto the shopping list it goes. The review made my mouth water.

Mike

[Siedler]

Siedler, in this scene, from the third act, Tosca discovers that her lover, Cavaradossi is dead. Scarpia’s death occurs in the second act..

Haha, yes, of course, what a typo. 

[AnthonyAthletic]

Is this one of those Bargain Bin production Tosca's 

Looks like they could only afford two soldiers to shoot Mario at the end, what if one of them had missed?  That's one hell of a balcony, best left to the imagination, eh?  Tell me in Act I did the producers supply Mario with the paint to paint those black eyes?

Looks like Tosca's fur coat cost more than the stage set.  For me there's nothing worse than watching opera updated to the present day attire and bare minimalist sets....as a spectacle it sure looks out of place and mind numbingly boring.

Time for Malfitano, Domingo, Raimondi surely?, better still spin the Price or Callas cds

[T-C]

I was actually talking about something I heard and watched in its entirety and not a four minutes clip...

You said: "as a spectacle it sure looks out of place and mind numbingly boring". For my taste, there is nothing out of place here, but a very interesting and coherent approach that is working beautifully. I was not bored for a moment. On the contrary, this is a highly dramatic and effective rendition.

I think that the stage design in all three acts is original and impressive and your remark about "Tosca's fur coat cost more than the stage set" is totally irrelevant especially in act II. I wouldn't define this production as 'minimalist' although it is quite different from an overloaded Franco Zeffirelli production. You don't need a whole brigade of soldiers to kill a man. Two is more than enough... Tosca's jump to her death here is the most realistic and horrifying which I've seen live or in DVD, with or without a great brick wall and dozens of soldiers...

There are a lot Zeffirelli like conservative productions of Tosca, where you know exactly what you are going to see, even before the curtain rises (The Met with Sinopoli or La Scala with Muti, to name just two other DVD versions). This one is for a little bit more open-minded people... 


In the picture: Bryn Terfel sings his act II aria with his cat..