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Greetings again, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all :o)
This
month, I would like to introduce to you a favorite opera of mine, and
one I
had the rare chance to see the other day, with my very favorite diva in
the
whole world singing the lead part of Floria Tosca, Angela Gheorghiu.
She has
the voice of an angel, and I had good fortune to see her in my number
one
favorite opera, La Traviata, back in 1994, and she had the lead part of
Víoletta Válery, in that as well..Watching her on stage performance,
and
pairing that up with her very dynamic, and flashy soprano voice, is
more
than enough to melt anyone's heart, and draw tears at all the right
places,
and even at times when they aren't meant to fall :o) Such is the power
of
her voice..In my opinion, she is more regal, and comes across more
powerful
in her presence and voice than even Maria Callas, and I realise this is
going to upset a few out there, but these are my thoughts :o)
At the beginning, there is an escaped political prisoner, Angelotti.
Angelotti hides in a church where the artist Cavaradossi is working on
a
portrait of Mary Magdalene. Singing ’Recondita Armonia’ (strange
harmony),
Cavaradossi admits to a church official, Sacristan, that his portrait
has
been inspired by two women, Tosca his lover, and the Marchessa
Attavanti,
who, it just so happens, is Angelotti’s sister. He begins to compare
the two
women -"She has blue eyes, but my Tosca's eyes are dark"..
Sacristan leaves quickly, and Mario then converses with Angelotti, and
gives
him his lunch, and asks him to hide quickly, because Tosca is coming,
and
she is a jealous lover, who would pick up that someone else had
been..So she
comes, and they begin to speak, and sing "Ora stammi a sentir: stasera
canto", which is basically them having a conversation..She asks him who
the
woman in the painting is, he says that "it's the Magdalene and do you
like
it"? Tosca says "this woman is too beautiful to be the Magdalene, with
her
blue eyes and blonde hair, who is she really"? So he explains that this
was a
portrait of a woman who came into the church to pray, and he painted
her
unawares, and that is all there is to it, and of course, Tosca is
wildly
jealous..So she suggests to him to paint her eyes black - this would of
course throw off the whole painting. They begin to talk of love to each
other, remembering nights together in their little house, how
intoxicating
were the smell of the flowers during the full moon one night.....
Later, Scarpia who is the chief of police, comes to the church to
question
Mario about Angelotti, and encounters Tosca instead..This part reminds
me of
that scene in Othello, in which the one guy attempts to make Othello
believe
his wife, Desdemona, is in love with another, though it isn't
true..Scarpia
is a man who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain..He is rather
like
a psi feeder gone wayyyyy beyond bad, and he enjoys seeing people in
that
very moment in which he has a hold of their soul, and they come to full
realisation of that fact..He enjoys the thrill of the kill in other
words..Tosca is a beautiful woman, and one whom he desires immensely,
so he
attempts to get information about Angelotti, and points out the
portrait of
the woman as being Angelotti's sister, and who painted it, but Mario,
her
lover..Why this must obviously mean they are having an affair, and
whaddya
know! I just happen to have the lady's fan, left behind by her, to
prove
it..
As we know, Tosca is a jealous woman, so of course this goes straight
into
her, and Scarpia in a soliloquy, says "I have poisoned her, I have
planted
the seeds of doubt"..
When Cavaradossi discovers Angelotti, he agrees to help him escape, but
time
is fast running out. Suspecting Cavaradossi’s involvement, Scarpia
tricks
Tosca into leading his men to her lover, then summons her to his
chambers
while Caravadossi is tortured in the very next room. But it is Tosca
who can
take no more. Tormented by Cavaradossi’s cries she breaks down and
reveals
Angelotti’s whereabouts.
During this scene, She offers to pay him whatever price he asks, money
wise,
and he says "it has been said by some that I can be bought..but for a
woman
such as yourself, money cannot buy me, I require something better than
money"..And he goes on to tell her that seeing her tormented, and so
passionate about her lover, has set him on fire, and he enjoys seeing
her
suffer this way.."Anger is, after all, just as good and as powerful as
passion, I'll take that". And Tosca realises what he is saying to her,
and
tells him how despicable he is, and she would never consider such a
thing..But Mario is being tortured, and Scarpia has had the doors
thrown
wide open so she can hear his screams of pain..He shouts to her to say
nothing, but Tosca can no longer abide his torments, and she gives in
and
bargains with Scarpia..
After Cavaradossi is taken off to be executed, Scarpia offers Tosca an
evil
trade: her body for CaravadossiÂ’s life. If she submits to Scarpia’s
advances, he would arrange a mock execution. She has asked Scarpia for
a
pass out of the city - we will leave here forever.."Where will you go?
To
Civitavecchia"? Yes, she says..So he arranges a pass out of the city
for
"Tosca, and the man accompanying her"..He tells both her and his man
that he
cannot simply allow Cavaradossi to be let off so simply - we must
instead
have a mock execution, and explains how it works to her..Scarpia
seemingly
makes the necessary arrangements, his man leaves with this information,
and
Tosca sees a knife, having been left at the dinner table by Scarpia, so
as
he approaches her, she stabs him to death..
She then leaves, and of course, Scarpia's men know she is coming, so
they
allow her some time to speak with Mario, and they recount together all
the
wonderful times they have had together, and that very soon, they will
have
those times together again. She tells him he must pretend to be killed.
On
the first shot, he must fall and not move until she tells him they have
all
left, then they can escape together and live in peace.
But when the firing squad’s shots ring out, they are real, and so is
Cavaradossi’s death. But Tosca doesn't know this and says to herself
"how
handsome he is! such an artist! look how masterfully he falls!" Even in
death, the wicked Scarpia has managed to betray her. When they leave,
she
rushes over to him, but finds him dead..All the pleas in the world
cannot
wake him again, it is too late..But they are coming back! They found
Scarpia
stabbed to death, and know Tosca killed him..She can do nothing. There
is no
escape, nowhere to hide..She sings in her final aria how she has never
hurt
anyone, and fervently prays to the divine, "why is this my fate when I
have
never harmed a soul in my life? I have only loved and helped quietly
where
it was needed, and now in the end to be put through this.." Seeing
there is
nothing more that can be done, she leaps from the parapet and falls to
her
death..Before she falls, she promises Scarpia that they will meet
before
God, to have their judgement of who was the worser..
And then, she falls...
Well..It is my sincerest wish that you all will come away with a feel
for
dramatic music such as opera is, and my present to you is the beautiful
voice of Angela Gheorghiu..Discover her for yourselves, she is truly
magnificent. Tosca was actually made into a movie not long back, and
stars
Angela as Tosca, and her husband plays the part of Mario Cavaradossi,
so the
love and passion between the two is not pretended, but totally real,
and I
believe it gives this performance what it needs to properly convey the
depth
of feeling between these two. In real life, if they two did this
performance
together on stage, you would find it near impossible to obtain
tickets..For
those interested, here is an act by act write up, courtesy of Opera
News -
Click here
For those wishing to fully experience the magic of this opera, you can
listen to some sound clips here -
Click
here
As always, I hope you all have enjoyed this review..I try to present
different styles of music, different genres, to promote interest in
something extraordinary. One hopes you will fervently enjoy this
review..All the very best for a blesséd new year..
Dark Blessings~
Silver
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