Opera Reviews: Tosca

Bravi
David J. Berge - St. Claire Shores

A 'guilty pleasure' wonderfully done. Bravo, Bravi, & Brava!!! Where do I sign up for next season?

Praise for Williams
Lynne Metty - Detroit

Mary Elizabeth Williams was wonderful. Expressive singing and acting.

Captivating
Nancy Ferrario - Ann Arbor

What a wonderful evening. I was captivated by the singing and acting! Thank you to Saturday night's cast....Tosca was a most wonderful opera experience!

Enjoyable
Andres J. Sceglio - Warren

I enjoyed Tosca very much; excellent job from everyone in it. Mary E. Williams Vissi d'arte was absolutely fantastic.

And of course Palombi's arias, in the first act and final scene, were very well executed.

Bravo!!!

Powerful voices, good acting
Nancy Arnfield - Romeo

What a marvelous evening of opera with a well-balanced cast of powerful voices and good acting. It's nice to know someone is still doing grand old scenic painting!

Among the best ever MOT productions
Paula Drewek - Warren

My 92 year old mother who accompanied me was grateful that she can still enjoy such a beautiful evening of music, even though she can no longer see much. I felt the production was among the very best that MOT has produced over the years: dramatic, great acting, wonderful orchestral parts and the bounty of 3 principles of the highest calibre. I especially liked Williams in her role as Tosca.

Best of the year
Eileen Gifford - Rochester Hills

I enjoyed Tosca. The best opera of the year. The cast sang and acted well. The playing of the orchestra and directing were well done. I did not like that the priest and some others do the sign of the cross from the belly and not the heart. I know this is a little thing but attention to detail is important.

Unmeasurable talent
Debbra Lutze - Birmingham

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! I brought my mom of 73 to her first opera on Tosca's opening night. It was a masterpiece of exceptional talent from the ambiance of the orchestra to the accomplished performances of the cast - talent unmeasurable to the senses. We say, 'Bravo! Bravo! Take your bow! Tosca is a found treasure in the midst of Detroit! Deb

A dark tale beautifully told
Ray Paramo - Novi, MI

Dear Dr. DiChiera,

Thank you for a strong production of Tosca and once again for a wonderful season in difficult circumstances. The orchestra and Mr. Thomas‚ Scarpia, were especially powerful.

But thank you most of all for continuing the traditional staging of Tosca. I was recently at the Sydney Opera House for their new production of Tosca. Their director seems to have just discovered that the plot of the opera is bleak and depressing. He then thought it creative to make the sets equally bleak. Everything looked like a Stalinist jail including the church. Some young people I met there who were seeing their first opera were in total confusion. They couldn't understand the unremitting darkness of the whole thing.

I think there is a reason other directors haven't done this in the past hundred years. Your production had a properly baroque church, a credible Farnese palace and a beautiful Castel San Angelo, complete with a view of St. Peter's. There is evil and ugliness in the world, but art does not have to add to that ugliness. Dante didn't write ugly verse to talk of the Inferno. Puccini wrote beautiful music to tell of jealously, betrayal, rape, and murder. The Australian young people would have understood your production.

Superb from top to bottom
Patrick Hanudel - Cincinnati

A superb production from top to bottom... from the singers to the staging to the orchestra. Every opera star should make it a habit to come here. The hall is beautiful and resonant, the sets and the direction rival those in bigger markets, and the orchestra plays with a color and vibrancy on par with major ensembles. I'm coming back before ticket prices go up...this house may be the best kept secret in the Midwest.

Loved it
Betty Porter - Shelby Twp, Mich

I'm just overjoyed; I loved it. I am going to get the CD tomorrow...

Superb singing, acting, conducting
Petermann, Claus - Clinton Twp

One of the best productions of Tosca ever! All the singers and their acting were superb and the conductor, Giuliano Carella, paid meticulous attention to the music and the needs of the singers. He should become a regular guest conductor of the DSO!

Sunday's cast was amazing
Gloria Page - Detroit

Just got back from seeing Tosca, LOVED IT! I've seen it before, but this cast was amazing. I sat next to a couple who had friends from New York. They said our opera was "as good as it gets" compared to the Met in New York. I am also a subscriber and recommended the couple to take out a subsription.

Noah Sewart impressed
Zoltan Janosi - Grosse Pointe Woods

My wife and I were very much impressed with the entire production, but especially with Noah Stewart. This was much much better than The Little Night Music, which we abandoned at the intermission.

Goosebumps
Kim Akey - Novi

I was at the Sunday matinee of Tosca. What a fabulous way to spend my afternoon. I loved everything about Tosca, the music, the vocals, the sets and the acting. I actually had goosebumps twice during the production. Incredible emotions portrayed by everyone. I could go on and on and on. Thank-you!!!!!

One of the best Toscas I've seen
Vicki Kondelik - Ann Arbor

I have seen six live performances of Tosca and I have many more DVDs and videos of the opera, but Sunday's (5/23) performance was one of the best I've seen. All three leads--Tiziana Caruso, Noah Stewart, and Todd Thomas--were very impressive. I'd seen Tiziana Caruso in La Rondine and liked her very much, but now she's even better. I think her voice has gotten more powerful and more dramatic. The orchestra sounded wonderful, and the sets were stunning. This was one of the best productions I've seen at MOT.

I would also like to applaud MOT for doing a traditional production with sets that resemble the actual locations in Rome. I do think that some of the more modern productions are interesting (for example, I didn't hate the current Met production as much as a lot of people did), but MOT's production is so beautiful, and I think it's a perfect production to see when you're going to the opera for the first time.

Noah Stewart electrifies but the orchestra is too loud
Lynn Riehl - Brighton

Sunday afternoon's performance of Tosca was wonderful except for one thing and this would be a constant complaint of mine for all the opera's I have seen at your facility. The orchestra is just way too loud when you sit in the mezzanine area (seats D102 & D104) and they drown out the singers and these were singers that I wanted to hear completely - Noah Stewart is by far the best tenor that we have heard at MOT, granted we have only been going to shows for the past five years, but most of the time the tenor is always a little disappointing. He was not. His arias were electrifying. Please bring him back for next season as many times as you can (especially La Boheme and Rigoletto.) The soprano on the other hand is usually always good which was the case again this time with Tiziana Caruso, and Todd Thomas was fantastic as Scarpia.