Tosca
English National Opera, in rep until 10 July
La Fille du régiment
The Royal Opera, in rep until 3 June
Tosca has had several new productions at ENO in the past 20 years which have proved rapidly perishable. It’ll be interesting to see whether the new production, with set designs by Frank Philipp Schlössmann and the direction in the hands of Catherine Malfitano, proves more durable, though I think it is certain that one major modification will be effected.
The opening chords, giving the audience a pretty vivid impression of what it would be like to be a torture victim of Scarpia’s, were tremendous, immensely loud and crushing, and throughout the evening the chief source of my pleasure was in the orchestral playing. I don’t think I have ever heard the ENO orchestra on finer form, and in the past couple of years, under Edward Gardner, standards have noticeably risen.
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