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Tosca u Zagrebu (Tosca at Zagreb) [ Author Michael Daniel Watson ] [ From category THE Articles ] [ Subcategory OperaRail 2014 ] [ Translator Cristian Butnaru ] [ Article date: 2014-03-14 ] [ From city Zagreb ] [ Country Croatia ]   Being at Zagreb for the first time and not knowing much about the city, I was expecting…. for a dustier town. I discovered a city with a grandiose center and a superb cathedral. It’s true that it isn’t a big town but it is worth visiting. Also, the building where the opera took place, The National Theater, was imposing and with a good appearance. The curtain rises. The background is all black with some sort of rare white-grey stripes on the wall, their probably made of cardboard. After Angelotti appears, sings, finds the key and hides, moments when you don’t quite realize what is happening on the scene because of the darkness, the sacristan appears. First I didn’t realized what was weird about him, eventually I figured it out: he was wearing glasses and had red hair! The mop he was holding in his hand I saw it at first glance and I realized… I will see a new modern set-up. The old or new question was… how much sense did it had and how big the change, just to be different. Mario appears. Very ugly, old, with his hair raised on the sides, looked like he put his fingers in the drain. He was wearing brown pants with braces and a white shirt. His taunting a little the sacristan, then… unravels the painting, ask for the paints :-) and sings. Not bad but not extraordinary either. When Tosca appears, a part of the wall is modified, a cardboard is flipped and the frontage, a dark red, is facing the public. The point … I didn’t get it. Floria Tosca is classically dressed, a long, dark red dress. The children from the choir, afterwards, are classically dressed; when they are enjoying the news about the war with a ball and a paper plane thrown to each other. When Scarpia appears, even the public is a slightly terrorized. This is because in the back of the stage there is a jeep with the headlights towards the spectators. They’re not on a long phase but are a little upsetting, which not a bad thing considering the fear produced by Scarpia appearance. He is dressed in mobster style, grey suit, hat, coat; almost the same were his men having green suits like the army. Some steam is dispersed on the scene to complete the mystery atmosphere. "Va Tosca! " In the choir there are men and women alike, along the way the women are undressing and remain in red. At the end, the dames rush over Scarpia overwhelming him with kisses caressing him and waving fans at him.... Scarpia is delirious, of course, it’s his environment. Pause: Applause. It feels we’re in the East, applauds are warm, there is even whistles (exagerating in my opinion) and of course along the play i heard whispers. Act 2 takes place at the Scarpia’s police headquarters, which fortunately, it isn’t located in Palazzo Farnese from Roma. :-) On a big black desk, Scarpia is lying, undressed in the top part and a secretary, of course, and is giving him a massage on the back. Animated by the singing, Scarpia get down takes his towel down, fortunately he stops here... he sings in his underpants with sleeves, so he won’t be " to sexy", then gets dressed in the same suit as in the first part. In the back on the right side there is a huge wooden board, 8-10 meters, on which the pictures of convicts, from the front and profile, and their registration numbers are attached. While Mario is brought in and interrogated, in the back of the main plan, his picture is put on the condemned wall. After Mario is sent to torture, Tosca is going towards his picture, frightened. Act 3. In the back the Vatican chapel. In the middle of the scene, four soldiers and a cannon headed towards the target… near San Pietro! The soldiers enter, marching on the rhythm of the music, giving a special note to the scene. Of course they have guns. Mario falls; you can hear Spoletta, Floria Tosca runs to the back of the scene and jumps of the wall. Next… the most beautiful moment of the set-up: from the ceiling Tosca (another artist) falls slowly, moving gently her arms and legs landing exactly in Mario arms, dead in the middle of the scene.

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30-09-2024: Aida storica 1913
"Aida" in Verona 100 + 1. A hundred emotions plus one, yours!

Arena di Verona, the most Italian place on Earth!

These are the slogans through which Arena di Verona has chosen this year, 2024, to promote the Opera Festiva
... [ continuation ]
[ Author Michael Daniel Watson ]
From category THE Articles

21-09-2024: Aida shines brightly at the Arena di Verona
The Arena di Verona is also presenting a modern version of Aida, in addition to the old but wonderful version from 1913. And it looks something like this!

The stage is tilted, and the floor is made of glass. In the center, a giant hand
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[ Author Michael Daniel Watson ]
From category THE Articles

11-09-2024: Tosca a Verona 2024
Mario`s painting is huge, but... it`s on the floor, lying on its side. Mario doesn`t actually paint it, but "works" on some sketches. In the center of the stage you can see some huge shapes/objects, covered with black cloths. There are also two canno
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[ Author Michael Daniel Watson ]
From category THE Articles

01-09-2024: “La boheme� at Arena di Verona
Arena di Verona. We arrive. We park. We get off. We take a few pictures with the Arena in the background, then ... a heavy rain starts! We take shelter under a tree. :-) I don`t think the show is happening anymore, but we can`t leave either, so we ju
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[ Author Michael Daniel Watson ]
From category THE Articles

20-12-2023: Spoletta, symbol of Hungarian anti-communist resistance
Budapest Opera House was inaugurated in 1884 to be a competition for Vienna StaatsOper. It is localised in the center of the hungarian capital, just a few minutes behind St. Stefan cathedral, the bigest church of the city. In 2022 is was open again a
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[ Author Michael Daniel Watson ]
From category THE Articles

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