(Credit: Marty Sohl / Metropolitan Opera)

On Nov. 12, the Metropolitan Opera revived its production of Puccini’s “Tosca” to celebrate 100 years of the composer’s death.

It was the second cast in the season following an acclaimed turn from Aleksandra Kurzak in September.

For this evening, the Met put its hopes on what, on paper, looked like an all-star cast – Lise Davidsen in the title role, rising international star Freddie De Tommaso as Cavaradossi in his Met Opera debut, and veteran Quinn Kelsey as Scarpia. To round it all out, the company had its vaunted music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting.

But on paper does not always translate. And this evening was such an example.

Before we get to the performance at hand, let’s start with how the evening commenced – a screening in honor of Puccini’s 100th anniversary to highlight his relationship with the Metropolitan Opera. The nine-minute film showcased anecdotes of the composer’s stories back at the old Met including an interesting one about the creation of “La Fanciulla del West” and another about Puccini’s apparent dislike for Geraldine Farrar’s “intonation issues” and Enrico Caruso’s “laziness.” More importantly, the graphic design of the piece made by 59 productions was visually commanding and it brought the viewer in. This was a refreshing experience and a reminder that the Met Opera has an incredible projection system and sound system to boot. I couldn’t help but consider the possibilities of how the space could be used as a cinema on nights when its empty, showcasing films and performances of famed soundtracks by the orchestra, in the same vein that other major orchestras do. This daydreaming was furthered by the fact that as I arrived at the Met, I spotted cinema superstar Angelina Jolie and famed film director Pablo Larraín, both currently on a press and Oscar campaign for their new film “Maria” based on Maria Callas’ last days, in the lobby prior to the performance. Perhaps a screening of “Maria,” which explores the final days of opera legend Maria Callas would be an amazing experience for the Met to showcase.

Laborious

But back to the performance.

When I first saw this production during the 2017-18 season, there were many issues with the staging from the often tepid, unfinished and overly improvised blocking. It lacked violence and tension. While it improved as the run went by, there were still details that seemed unusual and unnatural. That went away as the production was continuously revived with different casts who brought their own interpretations. It brought McVicar’s vision to new heights and continuously made the experience refreshing.

But on this evening it seemed that the production had regressed to the initial opening on Dec. 31, 2017. Taking the stage was a tepid, awkwardly blocked mise-en-scène with no real tension or suspense, replaced by a shining edifice that included an awkward Act one shawl dropping to the floor without purpose, incessant walking around the stage without intention or payoff in Act two, and and a laid-back jump in Act three. There was the awkward standing around between Cavaradossi and Tosca in the torture scene. And the famed run around the table for the second stab, the most contentious directorial choice in this production that few have managed well. It didn’t land on this evening. Overall, it just all felt, well, tired. Granted this cast had no formal dress rehearsal so one could argue that the big gala was, in fact, a dress rehearsal.

But things weren’t helped on a musical level. The Met’s Music Director has already conducted “Tosca” on several occasions and each time has been a constant struggle to experience. The conductor’s interpretation of this particular opera seems to be a trees from the forest approach with attention to specific moments over the general architecture of the opera. Details and passages are milked for all they are worth but never quite coalesce into the bigger picture of the drama. The result is a feeling of being lost at see, the music lacking narrative drive or moment, the singers forced to carry most of the heavy lifting, an unfair task. The big issue starts with tempi as Nézet-Séguin often opts for the slowest options available to him. The night was supposed to end at 9:40 p.m. per the Met Opera website but ended almost 15 minutes later. The opening duet in Act one saw the conductor slow every melody making it hard for either Lise Davidsen or Freddie De Tommaso to be in sync with the conductor. Then the duet with Scarpia and Tosca felt like a dirge with no grittiness or tempestuous entrances. It just all felt like the same dynamic with no drive or build. The “Te Deum” was as slow as anyone could manage. Puccini builds the choral line that ends with a climatic forte which Scarpia sings over. Nezet-Seguin maintained the tempo slow throughout and the growth toward the explosive climax never fully materialized in a cathartic way.

In the second act, the orchestra seemed to lack presence. You didn’t feel the ebb and flow of the thrilling act and you didn’t feel like it was building to anything. Only in the “Vittoria Vittoria” did  Nézet-Séguin take the time to create an exaggerated accent to emphasize the orchestral outburst. But “Vissi d’Arte” was so slow, I wondered how Davidsen could breathe through it all. The final moments after Scarpia’s death were also slow and tame in their approach.

But the biggest culprit of the conductor’s interpretation has always been the beginning of that third act. A scene-setter, Nézet-Séguin takes way too much time to get to the point, the passage ponderous, shapeless, and, unfortunately, at times unrecognizable. It’s stunning to often hear beloved classics and feel like you are listening to something for the first time. This was no such instance, but instead, one where it was easy, and even tempting, to disconnect until “E lucevan le stelle (tempi in that aria were also languid as can be).”

Ultimately, this interpretation is simply not for me and as is often the case with the Met maestro’s take on romantic classics, it feels like he is searching for something new to say, but often coming up empty-handed. All style with little substance.

Cool & Methodical

The Met Opera has invested a ton in making Lise Davidsen the new diva of the house. Her Lisa in “Pique Dame” remains one of the great interpretations I have witnessed in recent years at the Met and since then, Davidsen has scored great success in the German repertoire around the world. There is great anticipation for her Brünnhilde and her Isolde, which she is set to bring to the Met very soon. With her tremendous voice and regal presence, Tosca, the emblematic diva, should be Davidsen’s coronation.

Interpreting the character of Tosca is one of the great challenges in the repertoire. There are a lot of cliches that have been used to portray the diva but in modern times the Met has seen many of the greatest sopranos bring fresh ideas to the opera and create distinct and memorable portrayals, especially in this current production.

But there is something about temperament in the Italian repertory that seems to escape Davidsen, despite her vocal mastery. Last season as Leonora in “La Forza del Destino,” Davidsen’s approach to Verdi’s legato line was static and suffered from mushy Italian.

Tosca was arguably more disappointing.

Again, no one will deny that Davidsen has a tour-de-force voice. She can sing the lines and the powerful high notes that the score requires and she can occasionally bring out some gorgeous pianissimo, especially in the final act during her duet. But dramatically Davidsen seems too passive and distant. Even cool. (Again, this group had no dress rehearsal so this should be taken into account when it comes to stage presence and timing and comfort). From her first entrance, Davidsen moved about the stage in a mechanical manner, almost as if consciously trying to hit her marks. But it felt overly calculated, lacking in the playfulness, sensuality, flirtation, or emotional outburst that dominates this scene.

In the duet with Scarpia, Davidsen once again lacked clarity of her feelings for Cavaradossi nor did she ever crescendo to any sense of agony in what she was hearing. Her “dio mi perdona” and “Egli vede ch’io piango!” came off as overly safe. McVicar staged that confrontation to end with Scarpia grabbing Tosca’s veil so they can lock eyes one last time, a not-so-subtle, but nonetheless effective, symbol of his hold on her. This moment was telegraphed far too early as it looked like Davidsen was handing Quinn Kelsey the scarf to set up the moment. This was not the end of the awkward stage business.

The second act did see Davdisen bring out powerful high Cs but her declamatory phrases lacked any weight or desperation and, as was the case for much of the night, her middle and lower voice was often inaudible and came off as shockingly thin in the overall texture. I never heard this in any of her Strauss or Wagner interpretations at the Met before, but here somehow, in those registers, her voice sounded smaller and weaker (or maybe that’s just what happens in the orchestra section?). I considered that her voice, with its cooler colors simply lacked the brightness to cut through the orchestra as effectively as her partner Freddie De Tommaso (more later), who despite having a less powerful instrument volume-wise, has the weight to cut in this repertory. It definitely impacted the flow and potency of this Act in particular where “Tosca” transcends the form and becomes a full on drama with music.

“Vissi d’arte” was one such example where we could point to in this regard. It lacked a build of the legato phrase with dynamics wavering and the tempo, as noted, extremely slow. Her cinematic high B flat was majestic but it felt like too little, too late when the build was overly lacking. Davidsen’s chest voice was lacking, especially in the lines “Che v’ho fatto in vita mia? Son io che cosi torturate!” where the role forces the soprano down to the depths of the voice.

Another issue with Davidsen’s take was how she seemed to prefer a more “introverted” approach, especially in this act. I definitely saw that she was purposely avoiding some of the cliched and over-the-top outbursts that other sopranos can have in the major dramatic moments. You don’t want to make Tosca a laughing-stock of over-the-top emotions and arguing for an approach where she is staying strong and internalizing her pain can be truly potent and dramatically intense in its own way. But Davidsen remained too introverted in her delivery, to the point where it came off as calm and unperturbed. As Scarpia wrote out the letters of passage, Davidsen waded around, no visible emotion on her face or in her body, her entire presence very loose. She sat for a moment, seemingly relaxed. I started to wonder, what is this Tosca feeling knowing that Scarpia is about to throw himself all over her? One of McVicar’s best directorial moments in this production has been the moment where Tosca sees the knife. It’s always been super clear what the performer is thinking and feeling when she sees it. I missed that moment here with Davidsen. She saw it. She grabbed it. She hid it. All with a looseness and lack of clear emotional motivation that it fell flat and let the rest of the scene down. Again, as she stared down the man she’d murdered, Davidsen never managed to develop Tosca’s emotions in that moment, all the text delivered with a calm and cool that felt mechanical. Again, internalizing and shouldering the trauma is a valid approach, but it needs to build somewhere in the overall arc of the drama and the fact that Davidsen remained in this emotional gear throughout made the interpretation come off as overly aloof and as a result lacking in dramatic potency.

The third act saw Davidsen improve in that she sang some gorgeous pianissimo lines in the duet especially “Senti, l’ora è vicina. Io già raccolsi” and “finché congiunti alle celesti sfere.” Here Davidsen was able to float the pianos and connect them with elasticity. But in the final moments, as Tosca realizes that Cavaraodssi has been killed and she has pure declamation, Davidsen returned to the aloofness that had marked the rest of her performance. Her “Mario! Mario! Morto! Morto!” were barely heard and lacked in urgency. It didn’t sound like a woman realizing that all is lost, that she’s been tricked again, that her lover is, in fact, dead. “O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!” was cut short and lacked the cathartic power it often has. Her jump was relaxed, even perfunctory, lacking the dramatic punch it should have as Davidsen didn’t let the moment build. It never felt like Tosca even considered what she was doing. The fact that she jumped before she was visibly cornered didn’t help the dramatic timing or tension of it all.

Davidsen is a vocal powerhouse. But not as “Tosca.”

Bel Canto Scarpia

I would never use the words Bel Canto to describe Scapria’s vocal writing. The phrases are generally sung with a staccato and accented emphasis on the words. But on this occasion, Quinn Kelsey, who was making his role debut, had something different to bring to the character that didn’t always work.

Kelsey opened the evening with a healthy ringing baritone in “Un tal baccano in chiesa!” but it was overly pretty, not suggesting Scarpia’s snake-like character. In the subsequent duet with Davidsen “Tosca divina,” Kelsey sang with a bel canto line that was both ardent and gorgeous. I appreciated the connected lines and rhythmic precision, but I lacked the accentuated phrases that delineate a Scarpia who is stealthily seeking out Tosca sexually. The contrast was lacking and it brought down the sexual undertones of the moment, forging more of a brother-sister conversation with no tension. The “Te Deum” was immaculately sung and Kelsey held his own with the chorus, showcasing the baritone’s immense sound.

Act two got off to a rocky start with his “Ha più for te” which again Kelsey attempted a straight legato line but suffered from some faulty intonation issues at the outset. But he quickly recovered with impeccable high notes.

In the subsequent exchanges with De Tommaso, you started to see an imposing force on the stage but then in the torture scene with Davidsen, the aforementioned lack of physicality made this Scarpia look weak. In fact, he looked very uncomfortable next to Davidsen and never looked fully in control of the proceedings. At one point, when he sat beside her on stage right, the baritone looked too cordial, too stiff. He wasn’t quite a menace. He said one thing, but his physicality never delivered on it. The most awkward of exchanges was “Qual prezzo” where he stood over Davidsen, but looked afraid to touch her.

His best moment was “Quest’ora io l’attendeva!,” where Kelsey really got into the character singing with vigor and drive, the voice rising in tone and obtaining a great force.

This was his first attempt at the role and his first major Puccini role. It’s never an easy task to switch from the grieving Rigoletto to the vengeful and despotic Scarpia. So one hopes that Kelsey will only improve as he develops the character.

Showstopper 

The saving grace of the evening was without a doubt Freddie De Tommaso who was making his highly anticipated Met debut. The tenor has performed the role all over the world and it shows in his approach in which he holds nothing back. It is clear that this is a tenor that has been inspired by the golden age of singing and you can sense it in his declamation which is certainly affective and emotional.

He opened the first act with an unsteady “Recondita Armonia” that saw the tenor cautiously climb up and down the stairs and then sang with a wide vibrato. But it was clear he was just warming up and perhaps nervous at making his highly anticipated debut. But he quickly recovered in the duet with Davidsen. Here he sang with a golden tone highlighting a dynamic range from suave and gentle in “Quale occhio al mondo può star di paro” which slowly crescendoed to an impassioned tone, highlighting his immense and secure high range. That all climaxed in “Mia vita, amante inquieta” which was just pure passion as the Puccini line grew to the pinnacle of the duet. In the following exchange with Angelotti, De Tommaso’s “La vita mi costasse, vi salverò!” was a heroic cry with a ringing B natural that resonated with power and grit.

In the second act, the tenor was defiant from his first entrance and his furious declamatory phrases “Non lo so,” “Nego,” and “E rido ancor. E rido ancor!” Each repetition and phrase crescendoed creating the necessary tension. In the jail cell, De Tommaso let out a shriek that effectively delineated his pain. Even though he was offstage, you could feel the intensity in his voice and commitment to the character. His “Vittoria! Vittoria!” was the show-stopping moment everyone hopes it will be, the tenor holding the high B flat as long as he could. And he held it for quite a while, the sound pulsating with vigor in the theater like the best of them have managed. His subsequent “L’alba vindice appar” was sung with staccato phrases that emphasized the aggressive quality of this Cavaradossi. The “o Scarpia carnefice!” was nothing short of confrontational and suspenseful.

Act three is the tenor’s moment as it has one of the most famous arias in all of opera, “E Lucevan le stelle.” De Tommaso started off with a subtle thin sound that connected each line and moved with ease. “Mi cadea fra le braccia” was particularly touching, a lament to end the opening phrases of the aria, emphasizing that Cavaradossi can’t hold his stoic posture any longer and perfectly setting up the pain of the phrases to follow. His voice melted each legato line into the next especially on “Oh, dolci baci, o languide carezze.” As the aria crescendoed, so did De Tommaso’s tone and his declamatory phrases. He emoted many of the lines with a yearning quality especially “E muoio disperato!” and “E non ho amato mai tanto la vita!” It was intense, even exaggerated, the tenor invoking the approach of tenors of the past in its almost spoken approach. It might be “old-fashioned” but its still intense and powerful. The aria brought down the house in a grandiose ovation. Props to the tenor for singing the aria in a difficult slow tempo as he never seemed to lose a single bit of breath.

The subsequent duet with Davidsen saw De Tommaso bring the fire back a little and sing with tenderness especially throughout “O dolci mani mansuete e pure.” But this passage had an emotional directness and vocal sturdiness that is often overlooked in other interpretations. His heroic vocalism returned towards the end as he and Davidsen’s “Armonie di canti diffonderem!” was sung with triumphant tones that filled the cavernous theater with thunderous sound.

Without a doubt, De Tommaso is the real deal and is a tenor that will likely become a staple at the Met and a star that the house needs at this time.

In the role of the Sacristan, Patrick Carfizzi brought his usual comic timing and powerful tone while Kevin Short delivered a booming timbre to his Angelotti. Tony Steveson and Christopher Job were ominous as Spoletta and Sciarrone.

The Met is set to broadcast this Tosca in HD making it the fourth time this opera is on the Met’s heralded series. There was a more experienced Tosca this season that could have also been an excellent option for that HD, but I question why anyone needs another Tosca HD, especially when productions like “Die Frau ohne Schatten,” one of the Met’s greatest productions, and “Ainadamar,” arguably the best contemporary opera to grace the Met stage in recent years, have never gotten a chance on General Manager Peter Gelb’s emblematic series.