Tosca: A Not-So-Shabby Shocker

In the grand tradition of melodrama, the villain was booed (and loudly bravoed) at the curtain call of last weekend’s Knoxville Opera Company production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. Such is one measure of success in theatre -- the audience having been seduced, they happily surrender their inhibitions and enter that world that has been created for them.

Tosca, that “shabby little shocker,” continues to delight audiences, and there was much in this production to delight. While some aspects of the staging and physical production could have diminished the opera’s impact, they were overcome by solid musical performances, by Puccini’s musical eloquence, and by Maestro Brian Salesky’s tight musical direction.

Taking the role of the beautiful, but jealous, Floria Tosca, was soprano Jennifer Harris. Ms. Harris assumed the role when the previously cast Rosemary Musoleno had to withdraw due to illness. Ms. Harris, who is at the beginning of what should be a wonderfully successful career, has a marvelous voice. She possesses vocal strength, range, and that quality that is difficult to teach -- the potential to act with her voice. Her Act II aria “Vissi d’arte” was an example of this ability. She did seem to gloss over diction in some of her extreme high phrases, but time remedies all.

Perhaps one of the best performances of the villainous Scarpia that this reviewer has seen came from bass-baritone Daniel Sumegi, who was making his KOC debut. Mr. Sumegi was quite dominating in both dramatic and vocal performance. His stage presence is so strong that he doesn’t really have to act with his voice, but he is a special force to be reckoned with when he does. For that reason, it would be interesting to hear Mr. Sumegi in Strauss or Wagner.

Tenor Thomas Studebaker was an excellent and sympathetic Cavaradossi. His chemistry with Ms. Harris gave the love affair substance and believability. Two Act I roles of note were Daniel Berry as the prison escapee Angelotti and Michael Wanko as the Sacristan. Mr. Berry is, of course, well known to the classical radio listeners of WUOT, where he is program director and morning host. Opera seems to be full of bumbling church characters; Mr. Wanko gave his Sacristan a very nice blend of comedic religious obligation and disapproval backed up with a really fine bass voice.

It is the physical production that puts theatre into opera. Unfortunately, there were some aspects of Tosca's visual and dramatic components that were disappointing. The stage direction of David Bamberger, while serviceable, was somewhat wooden in terms of stage movement and arrangement. This seemed to leave the performers to their own devices. While this may work for the stage veterans, a young performer, such as Ms. Harris, could have used more help in movement and in dramatically motivating and constructing the role. I lay this responsibility squarely on the stage director, who also seemed content to plant Tosca and Cavaradossi concert-style for some of their duets. As another oddity, staging the Act III Shepherd Boy (Lyndon England) in front of a cloud projected scrim was puzzling to many audience members, as well as this reviewer.

Opera, being musical theatre, has special needs in terms of dramatic support for the characters – and lighting design is an absolutely essential part of that support. The lighting by John Horner, while effective at establishing the brief curtain-rise mood for the scenes, fell short in terms of overall dramatic support. Perhaps preferring safe to sorry, Mr. Horner felt obligated to overlight the characters and the acting space for the bulk of the scenes. In the Act II study of Baron Scarpia in particular, this seriously diminished both the ominous atmosphere and the dramatic tension. Had the scene been more appropriately sculpted and motivated, it would have been much more terrifying and shocking than it was.

Tosca's main themes of abuse of political power and sexual violence were hauntingly present in this production thanks mainly to Mr. Sumegi’s Scarpia. But it is the drama (dare I say melodrama) of Puccini’s far-from-shabby vocal and orchestral score that sends the audience into the night with an experience that doesn’t easily fade.