PUCCINI, G.: Tosca (Arena di Verona, 2006)
Tosca
Composer: Puccini, Giacomo
Librettist/Text Author: Giacosa, Giuseppe
Librettist/Text Author: Illica, Luigi
Conductor: Oren, Daniel
Orchestra: Arena of Verona Orchestra
Chorus: Arena of Verona Chorus
Chorus Master: Faelli, Marco
Chorus: Voci Bianche Chorus
Chorus Master: Faelli, Marco
Angelotti: Spotti, Marco
Floria Tosca: Cedolins, Fiorenza
Mario Cavaradossi: Alvarez, Marcelo
Sagrestano: Previati, Fabio
Scarpia: Raimondi, Ruggero
Sciarrone: Pelizon, Giuliano
Spoletta: Facini, Enrico
Un carceriere: Nardinocchi, Angelo
Un pastorello: Dorrucci, Ottavia
Set Designer: Ana, Hugo de
Costume Designer: Ana, Hugo de
Lighting Designer: Ana, Hugo de
Stage Director: Ana, Hugo de
Television Director: Kaufmann, Loreen
Date of Production: 2006
Venue: Arena di Verona
Playing Time: 01:57:00
Catalogue Number: A00008617
Libretto
Tosca
Synopsis
Tosca
It is an event that draws many thousands of music lovers to Verona every summer: the opera season at the ancient Roman Arena. One of the highlights of the 2006 season was the riveting production of Puccini's Tosca by Argentine director Hugo de Ana. Nearly 15,000 spectators regularly filled the amphitheater for the performances of the Puccini favorite with a stellar cast - Fiorenza Cedolins, Marcelo Alvarez and Ruggero Raimondi - under the baton of Daniel Oren.
This recording captures the magical atmosphere of Verona's Arena: the balmy night air, the starry sky, the grandiose pageant of sumptuous sets and costumes, the awe-inspiring effects of light and sound - including guns and cannons in this production marked by a stylized realism. At the center of De Ana's stage concept is a giant replica of the head of the "Angelo di Castello", an 18th-century bronze statue of the archangel Michael holding a sword. After being restored, it was recently returned to its place atop the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, where the third act of the opera takes place. "An altogether perfect staging, with the director exploiting to the fullest the vast space of the amphitheater and designing grandiose scenes and magnificent costumes," wrote Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Amidst the surreal procession of bishops, the great wave of soldiers marching across the stage, and the cannons booming in the background, which symbolize the ever-present horror of the war, Fiorenza Cedolins holds her own as a powerful yet supremely feminine Tosca. Argentine tenor Marcelo Álvarez, one of the top tenors of his generation, interprets Tosca's lover, the artist Cavaradossi, with melting lyricism and fierce passion. And as the villainous police chief Scarpia, the great Ruggero Raimondi brings a diabolical intensity to the mellow inflections of his baritone voice. Daniel Oren leads the orchestra and chorus of the Arena di Verona with verve and a powerful presence.
