Cheap Puccini - Tosca / Guleghina, Licitra, Nucci, Mariotti, Gavazzi, Parodi, Muti, La Scala (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Puccini - Tosca / Guleghina, Licitra, Nucci, Mariotti, Gavazzi, Parodi, Muti, La Scala

Somewhat of a mixed bag
Well, here it is; yet another Tosca on DVD. nothing special, just a live, taped performance at La Scala from March 2000. with Salvatore Licitra, Maria Guleghina, Leo Nucci, and Riccardo Muti conducting. what made me the most curious was Licitra's name, after hearing about his Met debut last year replacing Luciano Pavarotti in, ironically, this very opera. Guleghina also played Tosca to Licitra's Cavaradossi in his "surprise" Met debut. so I decided to give it a try.

First of all, Licitra gives a wonderful performance here. His diction is beautiful, and his acting is very good. There is some strain on the higher notes, but other than that, he does a great job here. we will certainly be hearing more of him soon; he shows a lot of promise in this performance. he even gives the best and most complete performance of the evening.

Guleghina sings very well in Act One, and looks beautiful here (although somewhat on the chubby side), but she screams out most of her voice in Act Two, and therefore, her aria "visse d'arte", is sung with many signs of strain and well below pitch. Act Three is somewhat better. overall, she is no Callas, but she burns a lot of paint off the walls, and does a fine job here. hopefully, her interpretation will improve as the years go by.

Nucci certainly shows lots of experience in this role. He is so loathsome, cruel, and nasty here, and could give Bella Lugosi lessons in sneering. (just listen to his "eh bene?" in Act Two, and that will send shivers down your spine). However, his voice has dried up, and his intonation is, at times, terrible. Two acts of yelling do not compensate for his portrayal of a one-demensional Scarpia. Also unconvincing is his physical appearance; when he sings, he looks like an old version of George Bush. But no matter. He still gives a frightening performance here, although not the last word.

Riccardo Muti gives a well-shaped performance here, but most of the time, his conducting is unimaginative, dull, heavy and lacks climaxes. Sometimes, the musicians, especially the strings, aren't in tune! Too bad we couldn't have Levine, Sinopoli or Mehta conduct instead.

All the supporting roles are good, especially Alfredo Mariotti as the Sacristan.

this production, however, is awful. It puts the singers in akward positions. To get an image of the first scene: imagine being in a church and a museum at the same time while dead drunk. As for the other two acts, the less said, the better. What was the set designer thinking? seeing the sets tilted over the way they are, they might make you dizzy or confused (sometimes both).

Also annoying is some of the acting. The interactions between our Tosca and our Scarpia may go on record as some of the funniest moments ever on the La Scala stage. Finally, there are the subtitles. They should have been better proof-read. I laughed out loud when Scarpia pleaded for Tosca to "spill the beans", and gave commands to "silence his [Cavaradossi's] tounge" .

so that's why I gave this three stars. the best thing to do is buy this, and close your eyes when you listen to it. or simply buy the CD, if it''s available. An even better idea would be to just get the Domingo Met version with Sinopoli conducting, which is, visually, amazing. But if you are curious about Licitra, and want to hear a chilling Scarpia (which the Met version unfortunately doesn't have), here's the right place.