Classical Voice Review - Tosca, Oporto Coliseum, Portugal- Nov 16, 2002

Tosca		Elisabete Matos
Cavaradossi		Nicola Rossi Giordano
Scarpia		Jorge Vaz de Carvalho
Angelotti		Ramon de Andres
Spoletta		Pedro Chaves
Sciarrone		Jose Corvelo
Pastore		Inês Homem de Melo
Ashby		Louis Lebherz

Reynald Giovaninetti, conductor
Joseph Franconi Lee, director
Acacio Carvalho, designer
Manuela Bronze, costume designer
Oporto National Orchestra/
Oporto Opera Society Chorus

Despite its small and peripheral territory, Portugal’s operatic life is not restricted to its capital: Lisbon. Fortunately, thanks to the enduring efforts of Oporto’s Operatic Society, northern audiences can attend operatic productions, namely in Oporto’s 3 thousand seat Coliseum. In the 12th, 14th and 16th of November, soprano Elisabete Matos and baritone Jorge Vaz de Carvalho literally brought the house down with their fiery scenic and singing performances in a memorable Puccini’s Tosca. Both Matos and Vaz de Carvalho are among the current leading Portuguese singers. Matos, for instance, has already sung opposite José Carreras (Wolf Ferrari’s Sly) and Placido Domingo (Massenet’s Le Cid – available on VHS) at the Washington Opera. Moreover, she will soon debut at La Scala in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.

Unfortunately, the stage direction and sceneries did not match the excellence of the above mentioned singers. On the contrary, Joseph Franconi Lee’s work was, above all, uneven, going from creative and adequate scenic options to details of dubious taste and weak dramatic efficiency. Particularly in Acts I and III, the staging lacked unity and coherence. The choice of minimalist and stylized sceneries frequently clashed with realistic objects or moments whose pompous exuberance was, in our opinion, merely decorative.

In the first Act, the geometric simplicity of the altars and the stairs, which functioned as an entrance to the Sant’Andrea church, could not be in greater disharmony with the naive realism of the Attavanti portrait. Not to mention the richly detailed, luxurious and Vatican-like procession which crossed the stage’s background during the Te Deum. Even worse, the last act, in which the staging attained a higher degree of restraint and purity, ended with the descent of an enormous vengeful baroque angel whose taste (or lack of it) reminded us of the old Soviet Bolshoi productions and almost ruined Tosca’s final words, spit by Elisabete Matos with visceral energy.


Elisabete Matos as Tosca		Jorge Vaz de Carvalho as Scarpia

But not everything was miscalculated. A case in point would be the second act covered in an intense red which smelt of blood and sex. In its centre, one could find an expressive painting, portraying Christ’s suffering before the crucifixion. When lifted, the painting would become the entrance to the torture chamber of Farnese Palace. The symbolism is both explicit and interesting: Cavarodossi’s martyrdom shared a deep resemblance to Christ’s torments. Nonetheless, doubly interesting was the refined and implicit irony. In Tosca, one does not witness the flagellation of a Christian by pagan hands. On the contrary, it is a “miscredente” – according to the Sagestrano – who, under the orders of the most pious Scarpia, suffers inquisitorial torture.

By favouring the orchestral sonorities, the Coliseum’s acoustics harshly tested the volume of each singer’s voice as well as its ability to be projected and heard throughout the immense arena. Some passed this examination. Others did not. That was the case of Italian tenor Nicola Rossi Giordano’s Cavaradossi who was continuously drowned by Puccini’s orchestration. His is a beautiful, homogeneous voice with an easy low register even in trickier phrases, such as: “l’ardente amante mia”. His high register, however, frequently sounded strangulated and opaque, due to Rossi Giordano’s insistence in darkening his natural voice tone. Only on two occasions did his voice ring out: “La vita mi costasse” and “Vittoria, vittoria”. No such vocal freedom took place during “E lucevan le stelle”. Quite the opposite. The high notes, imprisoned in Giordano’s throat, failed to dazzle and, as a consequence, an embarrassing silence followed the rendering of the famous aria. Finally, the Italian tenor’s phrasing lacked conviction, energy and thus he built a quite weak and detached Cavaradossi, as weak and detached as his “Nego” in the presence of Scarpia.

Detachment and indifference are words one could not use in describing Jorge Vaz de Carvalho’s performance. His powerful black voice, overcoming the acoustic obstacles, spread with a cannon-like impact throughout the Oporto’s Coliseum. Scarpia’s entrance, for instance, was adequately frightening and authoritative. Using not only his voice, but his body as well, Vaz de Carvalho created a brutal, violent, sadistic and terrifying Scarpia. Nonetheless, in the Portuguese baritone’s interpretation, there was room for subtlety and refinement. Scarpia may be an unscrupulous sadist, but he is endowed with the sharpest of cunnings and, thus, he can trap Tosca with a caressing mezza voce [“Tosca divina (...) ma per offrirvi l’acqua benedetta”] or ironically mock her nervousness [“La storia del ventaglio?” / “Par che abbiate paura di tradirvi”].

To Vaz de Carvalho’s intense Scarpia answered Elisabete Matos with an equally electric interpretation. Their confrontations during Acts I and II were, without a shadow of a doubt, the highlights of that most memorable evening. Still today, we cannot but shudder when we recall that explosive mixture between parlando and chest notes which the Portuguese soprano so skilfully used in “Questo è il bacio di Tosca ! (...) Or gli perdono!”. In fact, there was no lack of chest low notes in Matos’ singing, whether anguished and tormented (“Che così torturate! Torturate l’anima), or angry and furious (“Presago sospetto!). And no words are able to describe her exemplary stable and thundery high register that would cut the orchestra’s sound like a blade and would keep on gaining volume as it ascended through the scale. Coincidence or not, it was exactly in “Io quella lama” high C that Matos best exhibited her vocal power and interpretative commitment. With luminous high notes and rich low ones, the Portuguese soprano was also able to express Tosca’s passionate frailty through the use of a beautiful mezza voce. Being hypercritical, one could only find a less distinguished feature in Elisabete Matos’ singing: the absence of real pianissimi, particularly felt at the ending of “Vissi d’arte”.

The Oporto’s National Orchestra conducted by Reynald Giovaninetti and the Oporto’s Operatic Society Chorus did not disappoint and fully supported the titanic duel between Matos and Vaz de Carvalho. A duel to remember.