| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 2-Mar-2013 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | All round excellence in the Royal Opera's Tosca |
 Few operas are as specific in time and place as Puccini's Tosca: the date is 17th June, 1800, shortly after the battle of Marengo (in which Napoleon Bonaparte wrested control of Northern Italy from Austria), while each of the three acts is located in a specific landmark in Rome: the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, the Palazzo Farnese and the Castel Sant'Angelo. But few are as universal in theme: the brutal abuse of power in a police state, where a single weakness can cost your life and those of your loved ones.
Read full review... | |
| 16-Nov-2012 War Memorial Opera House | Patricia Racette is remarkable as Tosca in San Francisco |
 Continuing the experiment from the opening of the season, San Francisco Opera’s current run of Tosca has several performances occurring on consecutive days or in close proximity, necessitating two different casts. The Thursday opening made headlines when the leading lady was felled by illness and a new talent, Melody Moore, made her mark in storybook fashion. I attended the second night, when a cast anchored by Puccini heroine extraordinaire Patricia Racette made a persuasive case that this was the Tosca cast to see.Read full review... | |
| 7-Nov-2012 Opéra Bastille | Love, jealousy, lust, and betrayal: Tosca in Paris |
 Puccini’s Tosca is no stranger to the stages of Paris. With almost 300 performances of this opera to date at the Opéra National de Paris, Tosca has become, alongside Mozart’s Le Nozze de Figaro and Bizet’s Carmen, a staple of Paris’ opera houses.
Read full review... | |
| 10-Oct-2012 King's Head Theatre, Islington | OperaUpClose performs Puccini's Tosca at the King's Head Theatre |
 The King’s Head Theatre in Islington is, as one might suspect from the name, in the back of a pub. Founded in 1970, it was the first pub theatre to open in London since Shakespeare’s time. Housed in a back room that used to contain a boxing ring, it is tiny: tightly packed seating for maybe 60 or 70 people and an unelevated stage, beginning where the seating stops. In 2010, Adam Spreadbury-Maher was announced as artistic director of the theatre, and his company OperaUpClose became resident there.
Read full review... | |
