TOSCA at the HGO

that was, really was a powerhouse performance, even at Dress rehearsal. To me all, singers put out their all and it went seamlessly, no interruption to repeat a note or line or two.

Patricia Racette (soprano)is a Floria Tosca you don't want to get on the bad side of..:-)
Tenor, a new comer to the stage here, Alexey Dolgov, very, very good as Cavaradossi with a mellow yet dramatic sound and rather good stage presence to match the fiery Tosca of
Racette.
IMO, Raymond Aceto, while singing well, seemed to lack just that soupcon of pure lust and evil that some other Scarpias seen/heard over the years, have had. But that just my feeling.

The orchestra was well in hand by Maestro Summers, Chorus, as expected, good,
and Director John Caird injected a good deal of theater daring-do into the work.
Mostly, the stage set was OK, except for - it seems, the thing lately in so many sets is to have boxes piled up higgledy piggledy? Unless, the idea is to portray greedy conquerors ransacking the cultural assets (reminiscent of the Nazis?) Ah, well, one must let stage designers have their indulgences.

What I truly liked was the end of Tosca (not just the opera, but the woman) having her use that dagger/knife with which she killed Scarpia on herself and then topple (not jump as often portrayed) from the parapet..was VERY dramatic and a great ending.

Having given away the end, as if opera lovers did not already know it, I can only add ..
GO SEE IT and hear/see for yourself!