March 17, 2003: Tosca in Vienna

2003-03-17 Tosca (G.Puccini), Wiener Staatsoper

Mario Cavaradossi = José Cura
Floria Tosca = Isabelle Kabatu
Baron Scarpia = Franz Grundheber
Cesare Angelotti = Janusz Monarcha
Der Mesner = Wolfgang Bankl
Spoletta = Benedikt Kobel
Sciarrone = In-Sung Sim
Ein Schließer = Günther Groissböck

Stefano Ranzani, conductor


Wiener Staatsoper
Montag, 17. märz 2003
473. Aufführung in dieser Inszenierung

Tosca
Melodramma in drei Akten nach Victorien Sardou von Luigi Illica und Giuseppe Giacosa
Musik von Giacomo Puccini

Dirigent Stefano Ranzani
Inszenierung Margarethe Wallmann
Bühnenbild und Kostüme Nicola Benois
Chorleitung Ernst Dunshirn

Ein Hirt Kind der Opernschule
der Wiener Staatsoper

Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper Bühnenorchester der Wiener Staatsoper

Chor der Wiener Staatsoper Kinder der Opernschule der Wiener Staatsoper

Tosca with José Cura as Mario Cavaradossi.

On 16th March 2003, I took a fall in a McDonald's restaurant. After coming to my hotel, I found out that I needed a doctor. He came, I got a kind of bandage on my right wrist, and a sport gel tube and some pill to kill the pain. After a not so pleasant night, it was 17th March 2003, and pain went and came again and again.

But I was not to miss Tosca, I already had a ticket, and I hope that the opera would be so great that I could forget pain and just be in operaland for 3 hours. But no, my loge was on the wrong side for getting to see the action. I blame the director, naturally. It was not a cheap ticket, and since I lost so much of act 2 and 3, like seeing how Jose Cura looked when singing "E lucevan le stelle".

The conductor was, I think really good. This was a good production, except when it was about situating the principals too much one side, making part of the audience suffering, to see nothing that was interesting that is. Isabella Kabatu was a great Tosca, and Grundheber a great Scarpia. I didn't find Cura a great Cavaradossi, but that was after his stupendous performance of Don Carlos.
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The overall impression a weak Tosca performance, since it did not take my pain away.

I hardly heard Cura's voice. And how on earth am I to know if Cura sang a fantastic "E lucevan le stelle", I had lean over heavily to see his voice, had pain, and his voice was soooo weak when I compare to Don Carlos in Act 2 Scene 2. Cavaradossi died, and I did not care, Tosca jumped to her death, and I did not care.

I had some hope of seeing Cura backstage, and I did see him through the window, but all the people, and my pain. No, I had to protect myself from further pain, beside I hardly could operate my camera because of the pain. Well, I had promised some photos to my Cura Connexion friends, and I went to her hotel, wrote a not with my left hand, I also told the portier what I wrote so that the meaning would come through, and left some photos there. And then I went back to my hotel. The next day, 18. March was my home-going day.

well, Tosca is not so important for me, Don Carlos is. so Great TRAVEL, anyway

next time, please, I want to be lucky with the combination Cura and Tosca!!!

PS.
Lot of people enjoyed this Tosca, and especially José Cura as Cavaradossi. My excuse was my injury that made it harder to enjoy an opera performance. If I were rich I would have gone back to Vienna for another Tosca, tomorrow on 27. March is the last Tosca with Cura in Vienna for 2002/2003.


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