Tosca

Rosario La Spina (Cavaradossi) and Takesha Meshe Kizart (Tosca) during Act 1.

I have a special place in my memory and heart for 'Tosca'. My father introduced me to opera through a recording of Puccini's work over fifty years ago before I had reached ten years of age. I remember the circumstances vividly to this day.

It was a Saturday. My mother had won the princely sum of £10 in the State Lotteries, an amount which went a long way in those days. She asked my father to collect her winnings for her whilst she worked. My father took me with him into town to collect the cash and then we went straight to a record store where he spent half those winnings purchasing a two record set of the complete recording.

I still remember him asking the store clerk to play Scarpia's aria during the finale to Act 1 so he could check on the quality of the voice of a singer unknown to him, George London. The two of us crammed into a booth where the relevant portion of the disc was played for us. My father wasn't interested in listening to the rest as he was familiar with Mario Del Monaco (Cavaradossi) and Renata Tebaldi (Tosca), famous singers in the 1940s/50s whose voices he was certain would thrill. At the time all those names meant nothing to me, of course. Once satisfied that George London made a satisfactory Scarpia, my father purchased the recording.

We returned home where my father immediately played the full opera on our player arming me with the libretto so I could follow the English translation of the action. Even at that tender age my gay genes picked up on Puccini's passionate music and I was hooked - for life as it transpires.

Needless to say my mother was less than impressed when she came home from work to find her husband had spent a third of her winnings on a present for himself.

I have seen numerous productions of Tosca since then both in London at the Royal Opera House as well as in Sydney. All of those productions have been traditional; Act 1 set in a church, Act 2 set in Scarpia's apartment and Act 3 on the parapet at Castel Sant Angelo.

The current production in Sydney, which I saw last night, originated at Opera North in the United Kingdom and it throws tradition out the window. Not only is the setting updated to modern times but the locations, action and the famous ending have been radically, even shockingly, changed. Tosca, with its murders, suicides, torture and attempted rape has been described as a 'pot boiler' and I think it fits quite comfortably in a more modern setting even though that makes some of the libretto references appear odd. The other major changes are a matter of personal taste. In my case, I found this the most enthralling production I have attended. I was almost completely won over - there were some moments I thought were plain silly - but otherwise the more I mulled over what I had seen afterwards the more excited I was by the interpretation.

None of this would have rated however had the singing not been been up to scratch but I am happy to record that the singers were splendid. The three principals, Takesha Meshe Kizart (Tosca), Rosario La Spina (Cavaradossi) and John Wegner (Scarpia) all were outstanding.

John Wegner (Scarpia) and Takesha Meshe Kizart (Tosca).

The Opera Theatre during intermission last night.