All opera-goers have experienced it, and perhaps more often than we’d like: an evening in the theatre where the producer’s “concept/vision”—that most elastic synonym for ego—overwhelms the very thing we came to see and hear. We leave muttering the now familiar consolation: “At least the singing was good.” A concert or semi-staged performance can therefore feel less like a compromise than a liberation. Stripped of scenic excess, the orchestra reclaims its place at the centre of the drama, while a score as rich as Puccini’s is finally liberated to do what it has always done best. Better still, when as…
Anna Patalong (Tosca) & Bryn Terfel (Scarpia) in City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s Tosca. Photo: Hannah Blake-Fathers
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