Tosca

Today in Sunday morning ballet class, Pam Kay Lourentzos said 'come see "Tosca" at Capitol Opera!' And so I did!

CapOpera's version of Puccini's "Tosca" is double-cast, and features Lynn Panattoni & Karina Aslanian as "Tosca," Ilon Griffin & Anthony Ruiz as "Cavaradossi," Roger Smith & Lanny Malfar as "Scarpia," Brendon O'Brine as "Spoletta," and Ray Fisher as "Angelotti." Pamela Kay Lourentzos directed the show. Pamela Lourentzos was recently appointed to the position of Acting Artistic Director of the Opera Series, while Kathleen Torchia, General Director, is in Pennsylvania working with Capitol Opera, Harrisburg.

It was nice seeing the CapOpera folks again. Today it was Cast B playing the leads, which meant Roger Smith and Ilon Griffin were out in the audience, or working as part of the tech crew, rather than on-stage. Friend Monica Parisi was out in the audience.

A very nice show. It was very helpful having the projected supertitles: it's possible to interpolate the Italian, as long as one has some idea from the supertitles what is going on. Seeing that it was Pam directing, and especially after seeing Runaway Stage's Pirates of Penzance, I half-expected triple tours from the cast, but the movement was low-key, and appropriate. Anthony Ruiz and Karina Aslanian made a handsome couple, and they both sang very well. Lanny Malfar suavely and effectively portrayed Scarpia, the corrupt and power-mad man. It was sad that rebel Ray Fisher died as early as he did in the opera: he has such a good voice.

Afterwards, I gave Brendon O'Brine a ride to the Light Rail station, so he could catch a trip back to the Bay Area, where he lives(!) A dedicated lover of opera, he is!

Capitol Opera Sacramento is moving sometime over the next year, to a venue to be determined. Salina Donek's and Tony Silva's Broadway Bound series will be spun off, and apparently inherit Capitol Opera's current quarters.

On Monday, the Sacramento Bee published a review of "Tosca," which I reproduce in full, since not everyone is signed up for the Bee:
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Published 2:15 AM PST Monday, Jun. 06, 2005
Opera review: Intimate 'Tosca' pulls no punches
By Rasmi Simhan -- Bee Arts Critic



The cast of "Tosca," from left: Roger Smith, Tyler Dahm and Lynn Panattoni.

Capitol Opera Sacramento performs in a theater so intimate that the events seem to unfold at the other end of your living room. Those events might include kissing, stabbing and suicidal leaps - or all of above - in Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca." You not only hear Tosca's anguish as she sings her famous aria "Vissi d'arte," you see it clearly in her face, and when she hurls a fan across the stage, it makes you jump.

This intimacy and sense of immediacy proved rewarding Friday night in the community company's production of "Tosca."

Directed by Pamela Lourentzos, "Tosca" runs through June 26 at Capitol Opera, 6219 Ross Ave. in Carmichael.

Certainly, in an ideal world, one would prefer a live orchestra over what sounded like a recorded synthesizer. But compelling performances by Ilon Griffin as Cavaradossi and Lynn Panattoni as Tosca often show the company taking advantage of and transcending its resources. Whether you're seeing "Tosca" for the first time or the 30th, you might say the true test is whether Cavaradossi's fate surprises and horrifies you almost as much as it does Tosca. And it does.

The heroine of the title is a diva so jealous that she envies the woman in her lover Cavaradossi's painting. But petty squabbles end after Cavaradossi shelters an escaped political prisoner in the Sant'Andrea della Valle church - nicely evoked here with candles and a statue of the Madonna.

Police chief Scarpia, who lusts after Tosca, twists the situation to his lecherous ends - and he won't stop at blackmail and torture to get what he wants. The missing supertitles in most of the third act Friday night may have confused some first-time viewers, but the gist of the action should have been clear.

As Cavaradossi, Griffin's agile, passionate voice gave the sense of power in reserve and did justice to Puccini's long, lovely vocal lines. There's a nice chemistry between him and Panattoni's Tosca. Panattoni shows eloquently, in voice and body language, the emotions that sweep through her in the course of the opera - love, revulsion, rage.

Lanny Malfar as Scarpia is duly dastardly but somewhat uneven. The supporting cast includes Ray Fisher as Angelotti and Suzanne Jones, who leavens the drama with a jolly turn as the sacristan.

"Tosca" closes the company's 14th season and is the last production in its Carmichael theater. The company plans to announce a new location and schedule for its 15th season soon.

Tosca
WHO: Capitol Opera Sacramento
WHEN: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through June 26
WHERE: Capitol Opera, 6219 Ross Ave., Carmichael
TICKETS: $18 general, $15 for seniors and students
INFORMATION: (916) 944-2149, http://www.capopera.com/
About the writer: The Bee's Rasmi Simhan can be reached at (916) 321-1071 or rsimhan@sacbee.com.