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OperaNotes Review
Metropolitan Opera House
March 6, 2004
By Charlene Frank
Tosca
Arrivederci Luciano e Grazie!
Music: Giacomo Puccini
Conductor: James Levine
Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica
Production: Franco Zeffirelli
Set Designer: Franco Zeffirelli
Costume Designer: Peter
J. Hall
Stage Director: David Kneuss
Cast:
Cavaradossi:
Luciano
Pavarotti
Tosca: Carol Vaness
Scarpia: Samuel Ramey
Angelotti: James Courtney
Spoletta: Charles Anthony
Tension ran high. He was in New York. He was seen at rehearsal at the Met. But would he show up on stage? Strangers were talking to each other trying to find out if anyone had the inside story. Had they seen him before? How did they get their tickets? Did anybody know anything?
James Levine entered, the music began, James Courtney (Angelotti) walked into the cathedral, and, well, nobody cared. Everyone wanted to see him. And there he was. The audience went wild, and he smiled a small, happy smile. The big disappointment of 2002 was over and nobody was angry with him anymore. This great house welcomed him with shouts of "Bravo" and quickened hearts.
The difficulty he had moving around the stage was evident in every step he took. I was left wondering if he would make it through the rest of his Farewell Tour, but he was there last night, and he made it through one of his famous signature roles, Mario Cavaradossi. His voice was deeper than in his youth, but it was still sweet. Whispers of "he is in fine voice" were everywhere, and it was true. He was in fine voice, not perfect, a little slower than the role called for, but fine none-the-less.
For Carol Vaness (Floria Tosca), it was good that all eyes and ears were only on Pavarotti, because her voice, though it was good most of the time, was occasionally tinny. Word around the theater was that her back was in bad shape, so we will just leave it at that. Samuel Ramey was terrific as the evil Scarpia. But, to review anyone in this show would not be fair of any of us because nobody paid attention to anyone except to Pavarotti. When he left the stage after yelling "Victoria" in the second act, everyone just waited. Yeah, yeah, yeah, she killed Scarpia, we all knew that was going to happen, we wanted to hear Pavarotti. Then came "E lucevan le stelle " in the third act. Would he make it? When he hit the note that he needed to hit in that beautiful aria you could feel the crowd exhale en masse. It was a night to remember.
So, was he magnificent, incredible and every bit as good as he was long ago? Nobody expected that, but was it a thrill and was it just great to see him do this role? YES.
AND, it was wonderful to have this opportunity to say "Arrivederci Luciano e Grazie!".