Tosca (2001)
Country: FR/GB/GER/IT
Technical: col 124m
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Cast: Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero Raimondi
Synopsis:
Rome, 1800: on the eve of Napoleon's victory at Marengo an icon painter and republican sympathiser falls foul of the hypocrite chief of police, who also desires his mistress, a beautiful - and jealous - singer.
Review:
Puccini's great realist opera naturally comes across as somewhat melodramatic nowadays, a factor always favoured by his splendidly over the top musical setting. Quite what the makers had in mind when they combined plainly dubbed performance in costumes and sets with black and white studio footage and grainy video exteriors is anyone's guess; far from being ironic or informative, the effect is merely distracting, not least when the director assays other tricksiness (lines spoken against a sung backdrop, action played in reverse over the prelude to Act 3). The acting of Raimondi offers choice moments; the chemistry between the famous singing couple is so-so.
Country: FR/GB/GER/IT
Technical: col 124m
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Cast: Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero Raimondi
Synopsis:
Rome, 1800: on the eve of Napoleon's victory at Marengo an icon painter and republican sympathiser falls foul of the hypocrite chief of police, who also desires his mistress, a beautiful - and jealous - singer.
Review:
Puccini's great realist opera naturally comes across as somewhat melodramatic nowadays, a factor always favoured by his splendidly over the top musical setting. Quite what the makers had in mind when they combined plainly dubbed performance in costumes and sets with black and white studio footage and grainy video exteriors is anyone's guess; far from being ironic or informative, the effect is merely distracting, not least when the director assays other tricksiness (lines spoken against a sung backdrop, action played in reverse over the prelude to Act 3). The acting of Raimondi offers choice moments; the chemistry between the famous singing couple is so-so.
Country: FR/GB/GER/IT
Technical: col 124m
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Cast: Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero Raimondi
Synopsis:
Rome, 1800: on the eve of Napoleon's victory at Marengo an icon painter and republican sympathiser falls foul of the hypocrite chief of police, who also desires his mistress, a beautiful - and jealous - singer.
Review:
Puccini's great realist opera naturally comes across as somewhat melodramatic nowadays, a factor always favoured by his splendidly over the top musical setting. Quite what the makers had in mind when they combined plainly dubbed performance in costumes and sets with black and white studio footage and grainy video exteriors is anyone's guess; far from being ironic or informative, the effect is merely distracting, not least when the director assays other tricksiness (lines spoken against a sung backdrop, action played in reverse over the prelude to Act 3). The acting of Raimondi offers choice moments; the chemistry between the famous singing couple is so-so.