Puccini - Tosca / Morandi, Patane, Cura
List Price:
Our Price: $16.17
You Save: $13.82 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.27 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Francesca Patané, Jose Cura, Renato BrusonBrand: Kultur
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-05-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kultur Video
Movie Reviews of Puccini - Tosca / Morandi, Patane, Cura
Movie Review: An excellent Tosca.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best Tosca yet available on DVD, the conducting is very good and the production very convincing. Jose Cura redeems his lacklustr Manrico at Covent Garden a few weeks ago and sings a role that could have been written for him. His interpretation of Cavarodossi is sensationally perfect, I can see why Tosca is jealous in Act I. I suspect that she isn't this Cavarodossi's only conquest, and she knows it. He looks good, acts well, and sings like an angel, his "E lucevan le stelle" is perfection personified. He is the best Cavarodossi I have ever seen or heard and I cannot believe Roberto Alagna will any where near rival him in the forthcoming DVD.Scarpia, alias Renato Bruson, is about as perfect as you are ever likely to come across. His voice is a bit ragged around the edges these days but he uses it to great effect and his acting is exemplary. I am totally convinced by his monstrous portrayal of arguably one of operas most evil and nasty characters.
I hadn't heard of Francesca Patane, and in the singing class she isn't in the same league as her two protagonists, but her acting is very convincing. So much so that both my wife and I you can forgive her vocal failings. She has obviously studied Maria Callas' interpretation, but she goes sharp on many ocassions and has difficulty with Tosca's demanding tessitura. But this shouldn't deter you, nor the missed notes in "Vissi d'arte". Her acting pulls her through and whereas she will be no competition for Angela Gheorghui (whose DVD is eagerly awaited) this recording will sit happily in your collection.
By the way, Spoletta is the best I have ever seen too, whilst Angelloti is just your run of the mill melodramatic ham.
I think this is the best Tosca I have seen on video or DVD, and whilst I eagerly await the film version with the Covent Garden orchestra, I cannot think we will ever abandon this version. Which is more than I can say for the Met's or Domingo's other two film versions. Go for Cura every time.
Summary of Puccini - Tosca / Morandi, Patane, Cura
The role of Tosca seemed to be made for Francesca Patané. In the role of a jealous diva in love, Patané has a rich and versatile temperament. She vibrantly expresses her personality as an actress with fine incisiveness, yet she is also capab le of moments of poetic passion, as in her Vissi d'arte which inflames the audience's enthusiasm with its sincerity. José Cura is a Cavaradossi of glowing vocal splendor, with crystal diction, indisputable mastery of the vocal line, with power and a cons istent expressive quality. His thundering performance of Vittoria is a vivid and moving experience, and his Elucean le stelle i s rich in flute-like passionate notes. The great baritone Renato Bruson brings to the role of Scarpia his usual extraordinary v ocal performance. His interpretation of Scarpia, crushed between relentless passion for Tosca and the demands of political duty , is expressed with nobility. Bruson and Patané together attain unforgettable moments of emotional tension. Enrico Castiglione has directed the work with tremendous originality and dramatic power, heighten ing with a modern and cinematic style a traditional setting of extraordinary effectiveness, and his sets avoided unorthodox sol utions and exalt the intrinsic musical and theatrical values of Puccini's masterpiece. Conductor Pier Giorgio Morandi provides a sustained energy with sensitive elation in the moments of high tension. This performance was acclaimed as an operatic event, and the superstar cast makes it a Tosca for the ages.With this 2000 production, a new generation steps powerfully into the romantic lead roles in Puccini's verismo shocker: Francesca Patané, daughter of the noted conductor Giuseppe Patané, and José Cura, a young tenor who seems destined for a major career. The performance is impressive--almost amazing, considering that this video originates in a provincial opera house, not La Scala, Rome, or Verona. Sets and costumes are sumptuous, conducting is expert, and the director has a fine sense of which details matter.
It is not flawless--the leading voices seem to need a bit more warming up on their first appearance; but as they settle into their roles, their singing quickly becomes excellent. Their acting is good from beginning to end. Renato Bruson, as the villain Scarpia, occasionally wobbles on sustained notes, but expressiveness, not tonal glory, is what this role requires, and that he has in abundance. --Joe McLellan