Guide
Key Word Search
Multi-Field Search
Browse
Repertory Report
Performers Report
Contacts
Met Opera Website
Key Word Search
Multi-Field Search
Browse
Repertory Report
Performers Report
Contacts
Met Opera Website
[Met Performance] CID:161520
Tosca
Metropolitan Opera House, Sat, January 3, 1953
Tosca (306)
Giacomo Puccini | Luigi Illica/Giuseppe Giacosa
Review 1:
Review of Francis D. Perkins in the Herald Tribune
Del Monaco and Bjoerling in “Tosca” Roles at the Met
Puccini’s “Tosca,” which has had three new interpreters of the title role this season at the Metropolitan Opera House, was repeated there Saturday night with artists locally new to the two other principal characters, Mario Del Monaco as Mario Cavaradossi and Sigurd Bjoerling as Baron Scarpia. In the music of his namesake, the tenor usually displayed his notable vocal resources with tonal artistry and discretion, limiting vocal energy to measures where it was not inappropriate. Rather declamatory at the beginning, he was effectively melodramatic in the second act; “E lucevan le stele” was sung with well-conceived expressive and dynamic shading.
Mr. Bjoerling, it was said, was singing Scarpia for the first time in Italian. His interpretation of the Roman chief of police was positive and vigorous, both in Scarpia’s browbeating and his impassioned episodes; one missed a hint of aristocracy and finesse in the character of this bullying operatic titled official.
His admirable voice did not seem at its best; there was effective vigor, but rather excessive vociferous in his vocal climaxes. Delia Rigal, singing Tosca for the second time here, was often pleasing and sometimes uneven in song, and dramatically convincing, while the performance pursued a spirited course under Fausto Cleva’s direction.
Search by season: 1952-53
Search by title: Tosca,
Met careers
Tosca
Metropolitan Opera House, Sat, January 3, 1953
Tosca (306)
Giacomo Puccini | Luigi Illica/Giuseppe Giacosa
- Tosca
- Delia Rigal
- Cavaradossi
- Mario Del Monaco
- Scarpia
- Sigurd Björling
- Sacristan
- Gerhard Pechner
- Spoletta
- Alessio De Paolis
- Angelotti
- Lorenzo Alvary
- Sciarrone
- George Cehanovsky
- Shepherd
- Margaret Roggero
- Jailer
- Algerd Brazis
- Conductor
- Fausto Cleva
Review 1:
Review of Francis D. Perkins in the Herald Tribune
Del Monaco and Bjoerling in “Tosca” Roles at the Met
Puccini’s “Tosca,” which has had three new interpreters of the title role this season at the Metropolitan Opera House, was repeated there Saturday night with artists locally new to the two other principal characters, Mario Del Monaco as Mario Cavaradossi and Sigurd Bjoerling as Baron Scarpia. In the music of his namesake, the tenor usually displayed his notable vocal resources with tonal artistry and discretion, limiting vocal energy to measures where it was not inappropriate. Rather declamatory at the beginning, he was effectively melodramatic in the second act; “E lucevan le stele” was sung with well-conceived expressive and dynamic shading.
Mr. Bjoerling, it was said, was singing Scarpia for the first time in Italian. His interpretation of the Roman chief of police was positive and vigorous, both in Scarpia’s browbeating and his impassioned episodes; one missed a hint of aristocracy and finesse in the character of this bullying operatic titled official.
His admirable voice did not seem at its best; there was effective vigor, but rather excessive vociferous in his vocal climaxes. Delia Rigal, singing Tosca for the second time here, was often pleasing and sometimes uneven in song, and dramatically convincing, while the performance pursued a spirited course under Fausto Cleva’s direction.
Search by season: 1952-53
Search by title: Tosca,
Met careers