This phrase was used by musicologist Joseph Kernan when he was writing about Tosca. The ‘Shabby Little Shocker’ however, has remained an enduring feature of every single opera house in the world and is never out of the repertoire.
I was fortunate enough to see Tito Gobbi and Maria Callas in the famous Zeffirelli production at Covent Garden in 1964 which, with its two super stars, has achieved iconic status. I have seen other Scarpias and Toscas in this production over the years which has stood the test of time, but it had become increasingly shabby and tatty looking. It was somewhat of a surprise though to hear that it was being replaced – surely, a lick of paint and some updating and it could have carried on? I was waiting to see if we would get a radical new production, with some trepidation I must admit, but instead we have Zeffirelli Mark II in its sets and staging which raises the question, once again, need the Zeffirelli Mark I have been replaced?
The reason for the high seat prices of this current run at Covent Garden was presumably because of the presence of Angela Georghiou, whose capricious diva like behaviour has been well chronicled in the press. Type casting one would think, all she needed to do was to play herself! Instead we were treated to a flirty, silly, characterisation of little depth and subtlety. The voice is undoubtedly beautiful but it is just not big enough for Tosca and I felt very pleased I had the good fortune to be sitting in the stalls. My normal seats at Covent Garden are much loftier and I am pretty sure that she was inaudible in the amphitheatre. There was a palpable sense of disappointment amongst the audience and comments overheard in the interval confirmed this.
My main reason for attending was to hear Bryn Terfel’s Scarpia. Having heard him in Die Walkure, Das Rheingold and Die Flieglende Hollander over the last year, I was looking forward to hearing his Puccini. Tito Gobbi is one of my all time favourite opera singers and his was a hard act to follow. Gobbi’s Scarpia with his arrogant stance and his more patrician attitude was a sophisticated study in malevolence. Terfel is more brutish and vicious and faced with his Scarpia Ms Georgiou finally came to life and seemed to get involved – the only part of the evening she appeared to do so. Terfel’s voice is magnificent – it seems to roll out of him with no feeling of effort or strain and his attention to diction and characterisation is superb. He deserved a better Tosca that the one he was given.
I have not mentioned the Cavaradossi of Alvarez. He was fine and his Vittoria in the second act rang out, with a beautiful O Dolce Mani in the final act, but for me this opera is all about Tosca and Scarpia. You can get away with an indifferent Tosca and an indifferent Cavaradossi, but never, ever can you get away with an indifferent Scarpia.
Indifferent is the last word one would apply to Mr Terfel….
