One of the favourites by Puccini, opera that is! I went to see Tosca at The Bowl in Crystal Palace Park, courtesy of The C Word Magazine and the South Facing Festival. A gloomy, chilly evening but the passion and emotion of the show flowed out and was undeniable. The music, the singing, the whole thing was spectacular.

Tosca is an opera in three acts is by Giacomo Puccini and it tells a tragic story of love, passion, jealousy and politics. In fact, the chilly slightly tempestuous weather suited this dark and most lethal opera.

Floria Tosca – Natalya Romaniw one of Rome’s 1800’s most adored singers is deeply in love with artist Cavaradossi – David Junghoon Kim who is arrested and tortured by Scarpia – Roland Wood, the corrupt chief of police. Tosca is subjected to cruel blackmail by said chief of police, so she plots her revenge with unbelievably dark consequences. A real thriller, I won’t tell you exactly how it ends!

The orchestra and singing was first class and their voices boomed out across the park in waves of emotional passion one could not help being drawn into.

I have been to very few operas, one summer I sat and watched Carmen outdoors in Covent Garden, live streamed from The National Opera house nearby. Then the amazing spectacle of Madam Butterfly at the Colosseum in Rome, also by Puccini. That was out of this world amazing in my favourite city, and the city of origin of the composer. Against the backdrop of the famous Colosseum lit up in all it’s finery.

I didn’t think I knew Tosca at all but realised that because I’d listened to the late popular tenor Pavarotti’s singing a lot, I had heard before and loved his tenor singing from Tosca. I therefore really enjoyed the tenor parts of the opera. The tones rang out across the stage and park, all the singers gave powerful performances and sang with a great depth of passion. Well these were singers of The English National Opera, after all. And we watched with intrigued eyes on the stage and big screens, as we sat on  chairs or on the grass. VIP tickets had seats, lucky me!

Natalya Romaniw as Floria Tosca painted the most glorious, glamorous picture. Especially the act in which she wore a bright blue strapless, flowing gown with plunging neckline. As she sang with a breath taking soprano voice., she lit up the stage which was dark and sombre to portray the mood. The setting had memories of visits to similar performances at Kenwood House in Hampstead, with the stage floating or appearing to float on water. I noticed some water like a pond below the stage.

The performance worked and produced a dark but strangely uplifting Tosca to an appreciative crowd who had trekked across London and Crystal Palace park to attend. Security was also very tight and a bit intense but worth the effort once seated and captivated by the famous English National Opera. They cast a spell on us under the invisible stars, covered by clouds!