Tosca at The Met

Patricia Racette is in Giacomo Puccini's 'Tosca' which I saw Tuesday night at the Metropolitan Opera House.  She will be performing it 6 times with a quartet of leading men on alternating nights.  The NY Times praises her " richly expressive voice and raw emotion".  She is a fine actress but as the Times says "her voice is not opulent or unique".  This is also the farewell performance of Paul Plishka who plays the sacristan.  Since 1967 he has performed at the Met 1600 times.
The opera is based on a play by Victorien Sardou who wrote 70 plays, all successful and now forgotten.  Tosca was a great hit for Sarah Bernhardt, with 3000 performances in France alone.  The story concerns 4 main characters: Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner who is pursued by Scarpia, the head of the secret police who lusts after Tosca, who is loved by and loves Cavaradossi a painter.  When Cavaradossi helps hide Angelotti, Scarpia arrests him and tortures him until Tosca agrees to sleep with him and tell him where Angelotti is hiding.  She tells; then stabs Scarpia.  Angelotti kills himself rather then be arrested.  Cavaradossi is executed and Tosca jumps off a tower, spectacularly staged, rather then be captured.  The end.

The score is beguiling and the opera is one of the most popular.
Favorite parts:  The Te Deum with a triple chorus, an orchestra with bells, an organ and 2 canons.  The tenor's aria "E lucevan le stelle", "And the stars were shining" in act 3, and the soprano's aria in act 2 "Vissi d'arte" living her life for love and art.
Another favorite of mine: the company, 100 orchestra members and 80 members of the chorus.   
Today's notable birthdays:
Wayne Gretsky, Samuel Adams, Anita Baker, Nicolae Ceausescu, Henry Jaglom, Angela Davis, Jules Feiffer, Ellen De Generes, Douglas McArthur, Akio Morita, co-founder of Sony, James McCord, Watergate burglar, Roger Vadim, Anne Jeffreys, Jimmy Van Heusen, and Me.