Opera aficionado Norm Hollingshead gives preview of ‘Tosca’

Published 11:02 am Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Norm Hollingshead, opera lecturer, will give a preview of “Tosca” by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3 at the Bainbridge Public Library.

The free program is funded by the Bainbridge Island Friends of the Library.

In “Tosca,” an opera diva must save the man she loves from the clutches of the lecherous police chief whose lust for the leading lady is as strong as his hunger for power. The ultimate, high-stakes love triangle takes audiences on a full-throttle ride toward a shocking and heartbreaking conclusion.

Written by the composer of “La bohème” and “Madama Butterfly,” the Italian opera features some of Puccini’s best-known music. “Tosca” has inspired memorable performances from many of the great sopranos for the past century.

“Despite being firmly set at the beginning of the 19th century, the action of Tosca has a chilling resonance in our world today,” said Aidan Lang, general director of Seattle Opera.

“Whenever there is political unrest, there is the inevitable danger that power might be abused in the name of upholding the law. And so it is with Tosca. We watch appalled as the corrupt police chief Baron Scarpia draws Tosca and her lover Cavaradossi into a downward spiral of events that will inevitably lead to the deaths of all three. It is opera at its most gripping.”

Artists from the 2013 “Ring” and 2012 simulcast of “Madama Butterfly” return to Seattle for “Tosca.”

In the title role is Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte, who made her Seattle Opera debut as Cio-CioSan in 2012. Die Welt, the German newspaper, described Stundyte as an impressive singing actress with “unconditional, relentless, unsettling intensity.” The newspaper continued: “[Stundyte] brings us straight back to the bygone days of opera, when incomparable singing personalities such as Maria Callas or Renata Tebaldi so completely understood the dialectic of singing: beauty and truth are not mutually exclusive.”

Italian tenor Stefano Secco made his Seattle Opera debut as Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly,” and he returns now as Mario Cavaradossi, Tosca’s lover.

Greer Grimsley returns as the lecherous Baron Scarpia.

Singing the role of Tosca on Jan. 11 and 23 is another Seattle favorite, American soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams, who won Artist of the Year for her 2011 performance as Serena in “Porgy and Bess.”

Several artists will be making their Seattle Opera debuts in “Tosca,” including American tenor Adam Diegel, who sings Mario opposite Williams; and American bass-baritone Philip Horst who joins them as Scarpia. Also making their Seattle debuts are American bass-baritone Aubrey Allicock as Cesare Angelotti and Scottish tenor Alasdair Elliott as Spoletta.

The cast also includes Peter Strummer, Barry Johnson, Craig Grayson and the Seattle Opera Youth Chorus.