The Tosca that almost was…

If you were south of Lincoln Center very early Monday morning and heard a sharp intake of  air, followed by a half-scream of surprise, you might have caught my spontaneous response to Milan-based blogger Opera Chic’s report of a casting change for the first Tosca of the La Scala season.  Due to the illness of the soprano opening the run, Jonas Kaufmann’s Cavaradossi was to be partnered by the Tosca of Sondra Radvanovsky; originally scheduled to perform the role later in the month.  The only Mario Cavaradossi whose “E lucevan le stelle” brought tears to my eyes, singing with the Floria Tosca who recently gave Metropolitan Opera audiences the most heart-wrenching “Vissi d’arte I’ve heard in decades of live Met performances.  And, I couldn’t be in Milan to see it!

I must have been distracted by a trip to South Africa I was taking in early 2006, because I somehow missed Kaufmann’s only previous Met performances.  There are Kaufmann CDs and DVDs  but hearing him live for the first time, as the artist and rebel Cavaradossi, was an incredible thrill.  Kaufmann’s ringing “Vittoria!, Vittoria!” was remarkable not only for the height and volume, but for the acting.  As the tortured and bleeding Cavaradossi, he slowly and painfully pulls himself off the ground to stand upright and sing the cry against tyranny. As Cavaradossi later faces death, Kaufmann starts “E lucevan le stelle” in a reflective mood, building up from piano and mezzo piano in a way I found totally unique.  His voice paints a verbal slideshow of his love for Tosca and for life that unfolded like a film in my mind. Even the immortal Domingo had not made the tears fall as Kaufmann did in this aria or in “O, dolci mani” that follows. In reviewing Kaufmann’s Don Jose in the later Carmen, Mike Silverman of the Associated Press stated; “….Kaufmann gave voice to his conflicting emotions in singing that moved seamlessly between soft, pleading phrases of unearthly beauty and powerful outbursts of passion.”  While now on my list of “Things I Wish I Had Written”, this could be used to describe each of Kaufmann’s four Cavaradossis and two Don Joses.

I also wish his New York peformances had been filmed, but here is Kaufmann"s “E lucevan le stelle” last summer when the Met brought the production to the Munich Opera Festival (although for some reason, the clip cuts off before orchestra concludes the aria) 

Radvanovsky’s magnetic performances in Il Trovatore and Stiffelio left me confident that her Met role debut in Tosca would be very special, even before I heard her moving "Vissi d’arte” in concert last year. But, she would be the first to tell you that a dramatic aria in the context of a live performance is very different. Just as it had before Kaufmann’s first Cavaradossi, the air in the Met was crackling with anticipation and expectation on January 10^th. What first struck me  was to see a Tosca who could be the diva, yet girlish and playful with her lover, Cavaradossi  - as I always thought she should be!  Yes, the professional Tosca is the diva, but Radvanovsky showed us the Floria that is also young and in love.  On the final “Signore” of her "Vissi d’arte" – “perche, perche, Signore” (“why, why, Lord”), I was undone, and will never forget that or the sustained and thunderous roar that swept the Met when she finished. And, upon finding Marchesa Attavanti’s fan after Scarpia is dead, Radvanovsky makes it clear she now understands how she was deceived and drops the fan in utter devastation.

Final Dress Rehearsal – January 7, 2010 - Sondra Radvanovsky in Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera 

After the recent Singer’s Studio presentation by Opera News, I had a few moments to compliment Radvanovsky on her performance in Tosca.  When I also mentioned how I wish she was starring in Faust for Kaufmann’s then rumored, now confirmed Met role debut next season, Radvanovsky replied how much she would love to work with him someday and pointed to a man standing nearby.  “He’s my agent”, she said. “Speak to him. Tell him to make it happen!” So, I did.  After hearing about the initial casting change, I ruefully thought my request should have been more specific.  No, I didn’t want this pairing to be the result of another singer’s illness, and I meant for it to happen here, in New York, at the Met! On this Valentine’s Day, my heart was full of envy for any February 15^th La Scala ticket holder.

A later report from Opera Chic then came with the news that the virus sweeping La Scala had claimed both Kaufmann and the Cavaradossi scheduled in the later cast with Radvanovsky, as well as the baritone in the role of Sciarrone, one of Baron Scarpia’s officers. 

Having seen the mighty Bryn Terfel’s masterful Scarpia in New York last April, I will be very curious to read reports of the two nights he is scheduled with Radvanovsky at La Scala. Most Scarpias I’ve seen were either cold aristocrats or just outright bullies.  Terfel’s sinuous Baron was fascinating for its more layered approach. Although she is in love with Cavaradossi, you could understand why Tosca (the wonderful Patricia Racette), would believe Scarpia’s deception with the infamous Attavanti fan because of the veneer he presented to her.

What a road this cast had - losing conductor James Levine and star Karita Mattila to serious injuries two weeks prior and Kaufmann's problems getting to New York after the volcanic ash caused airline cancellations across Europe.  Despite almost no rehearsal time together, Racette, Kaufmann, Terfel and conductor Fabio Luisi created magic and the electricity intensified with each of the four performances.  Even in the final Act 11 confrontation of Terfel’s Scarpia and Kaufmann’s Cavaradossi, if my binoculars weren’t clenched tightly in my hands, I would have pinched myself to make certain I was really seeing these two operatic giants together.  Jaded and not-so-jaded Met regulars were bug-eyed with wonder.  At one intermission, a regular came to me, his face lit up, exclaiming:  “Did you SEE that??!!”  Thankfully, I did – every minute of it!

For me, performances such as these are the Toscas of last Spring and Radvanovsky’s Met role debut are one of the things that bring a special exhilaration to life. While I enjoy my favorite artists on CD or DVD or You Tube clips; as an amateur choral singer, I know that you cannot compare them to hearing the performance live in the theatre or concert hall.  And, even in performance, you can see the same piece with the same cast twice in the same week and have a totally different experience.  

After receiving regular e-mails of my reactions to performances and exhibits I had seen, a friend suggested I start this blog.  While the idea was startling, I paid attention because he is one of the finest musicians I know, who does not give praise lightly. But, it took a while to get here. Even though few may ever give this blog more than a passing glace, I was somewhat daunted by a background of ghostwriting for others and not writing for myself.  A pleasurable exception to this was being asked by a friend in Barcelona to contribute to a web magazine in Spain devoted to dance.  The occasion was the 2008 premiere of Spain’s first classical ballet company in twenty years; Corella Ballet Castilla y León, created by the magnificent Ángel Corella, long-time American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer.  Thanks to another friend in Madrid who supplied the translation, my piece was included in the Spanish and English editions of the website, and I was touched and gratified by the response of those who read it.

While close to the starting gate with this project, I was half-way through a first posting, when the thought of a Radvanovsky/Kaufmann Tosca stopped me in my tracks. Unlike a professional arts reviewer, a blogger has the freedom to choose what to write and how often to do so – or not to do so.  It’s likely that my primary focus will be on people and performances that move and inspire me, just as I was inspired by Corella’s arduous struggle to bring classical ballet back to Spain.  (But, there are times when a director, designer or reviewer has moved me to indignation, so that may come across as well.) In every age and every area of the arts, performers are all so different and each of us has our own special favorites. Choral singing has given me even more of a respect for how exposed performers are on stage.  Struggling with vocal difficulties due to illness or injury is frustrating for anyone, but a choral singer is not as vulnerable as a solo performer, who is right out there in front and has nowhere to hide.  I’m certainly not intending to criticize a performer or put one up against another - as an amateur I would feel especially ridiculous doing so. Nor do I want to enter into an extended debate with anyone.  It’s a waste of time and energy and not my idea of fun!  Life gives us enough drama and I prefer to keep drama on the stage and screen - where it rightfully belongs.

So, it begins….