Francesca Patanè.
In the eponymous role, guest Italian diva, spinto soprano Francesca Patanè, proves a rewarding choice. Though not a naturally beautiful voice, she sings beautifully, and has the right coloration for the part. Capable of grand acting, she takes the stage with more than a nod to Bernhardt’s silver screen performances. In Act 1, she has chosen the riskier and I think better, yet less common interpretation of the role, coming across as shrewish, rather than playfully jealous and attention seeking. This opens up the part for greater narrative depth, raises the dramatic stakes and makes regaining the audience’s sympathy more challenging. Patané succeeds easily; finally winning our hearts in Act 2 as she starts the sublime aria Vissi d’arte completely prostrate on police chief Baron Scarpia’s floor.
Although not quite gallant enough for us to believe Patané’s Tosca would fall for young Spanish tenor Gustavo Casanova’s Cavaradossi, he delivers proficiently, often rising on his toes when reaching for those high notes, and passing the first vital test by drawing applause for his aria Recondita armonia.
From the moment baritone Fikile Mvinjelwa (Baron Scarpia) makes his show-stopping entrance, it is obvious from his dramatic quality and fluent movements that this wonderful performer has benefited from his recent stint as Macbeth in Brett Bailey’s version of Verdi’s opera. As the self-confessed villain – “Iago had a handkerchief, and I a fan” – we at once love to hate him.
Mvinjelwa clearly relishes his diabolical aria Va Tosca, and director Angelo Gobbato stages it for maximum effect with 90 odd singers drawn from the Cape Town Opera Voice of the Nation, its studio and sundry ensemble. This climactic end to the first act has Scarpia on his knees as if in prayer, singing of his lusts for the flesh, while behind him the cardinal and a boy’s chorus prepare for the Te Deum.
In the final act, Peter Cazalet’s set with its elegant lines and striking perspectives allows Tosca to make her suicide leap both terrifying and magnificent. German lighting designer Peter Halbsgut deserves special praise. His effects are atmospheric, aesthetically refined, yet never intrusively self-conscious.
Francisco Bonnin conducts the sixty-strong Cape Philharmonic Orchestra who pull-off this difficult score with aplomb despite a few false notes on opening night from the brass section at the start of Act 3.
Gobbato has achieved a solid, classic, gripping production.
