Leon, a Spanish tenor, was simply marvelous as Mario Cavaradossi. He has a true Puccini top to his voice, brilliant and un-tiring.He is one of the best tenors I have heard in recent memory.
Hui He has a gorgeous soprano voice, again with the top needed for these dramatic roles. She seemed to tire a bit in Act 3; some of her high notes were a bit flat, but her high C's rang out beautifully.
Both of them are excellent actors as well.
I was disappointed in the Scarpia of Mark Delavan. He tends to pull back and cover everything above the passaggio becoming inaudible at the end of Act 1, for instance, when he is supposed to soar over the chorus and orchestra. Compared to the other two singers, he was out of his league.
The rest of the cast sang well.
I must carp a bit about the set and the stage direction. The stage consisted of a large black box for all three acts. Apparently the designer, Bunny Christie, has never seen an Italian Cathedral, the Farnese Palace, or Castel San Angelo. The cathedral had the black walls with little windows at the top of the set. The lighting was dim and dull. Mario's painting was split up on three levels at the right of the stage. Instead of a portrait, three enormous chunks of the Madonna's face were placed, one on each level: the mouth on the bottom, an eye on the second, and the rest of the face on the third. A sort of giant jigsaw puzzle.
In Act 2, instead of an elegant room in the Farnese Palace, the scene was set in the basement of the building. Thus, the black walls and high windows were perfect- if completely wrong. The room was filled with crates on top of which were various statues that Scarpia had supposedly stolen from somewhere.
Act 3; again the black walls which looked nothing like the roof of the Castel San Angelo. They had added a large window at the back and a large hole in the ceiling, from which hung a series of nooses. A prisoner was carried on stage, hung, and drawn up to the top of the stage. I can only hope that this was a dummy, since he hung there for the entire act.
Finally, after Mario is shot, a couple of men rush on stage, Tosca climbs to the window in the back, STABS HERSELF (!!!!!), and then jumps out the window.
Thank Heaven for the wonderful singing of Leon and He!!
