Stage Review: Opera Memphis' 'Tosca' a winner

Photo by Handout

Opera Memphis' production of TOSCA marks the American debut of Scottish soprano and opera sensation Lee Bisset as Tosca.

First impressions matter, especially if there are several of them. For Ned Canty, it’s been almost a year of first impressions, all of which needed to come off well as he settled into running Opera Memphis.

Canty took over as general director of the organization in January with a mandate to keep the loyal patrons and attract new ones. On the heels of a bold new marketing and membership campaign, this past weekend’s staging of “Tosca,” the first production of Canty’s first season, goes a long way to show how he’s pursuing that goal.

The lure for traditionalists is that it’s a classic large-scale opera of passion and death. Canty, who talks frequently of getting first-timers into the seats, stresses that this “Tosca” is accessible to anyone and offers hot talent onstage as well.

It is all that, and Tuesday night’s final performance at the Orpheum made for a solid first impression.

The choice of the lead performers turns out to have been inspired. Lee Bisset, making her American debut, was amazing as Tosca. She was terrifically expressive, easily handling the demands of the role and supercharging the narrative with her passion.

As the evil tyrant Scarpia, veteran Louis Otey was a commanding presence, whether exuding authority as the police chief or making the skin crawl as a creepy face-licker who lusts for Tosca. Otey’s muscular performance was spot on, despite some vocal faltering due to allergies the baritone has been battling this week.

Gordon Gietz turned in a winning performance as Tosca’s true love, the painter Cavaradossi. He brought plenty of heft to the role and his voice’s melodic clarity was gorgeous.

The production was large in scale and the set design imposing in its evocation of Rome in 1800. After all, there had to be room for painting, singing, religious processions, stabbing, seduction, a firing squad and other thrilling components of intrigue.

Matthew Lata’s stage direction was solid, and the other elements — lighting and costuming — paid the kind of attention to detail that added significantly to the staging.

It’s an auspicious start for Opera Memphis under Canty’s leadership. “Tosca” was a safe choice, a big crowd-pleaser that made us take notice. And now that he’s got our attention, we’ll look for other ways Canty will be reaching out to expand the appeal of Opera Memphis.

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