The first production of the Washington National Opera’s season is Puccini’s “Tosca,” which opens on Saturday. “We’re doing a wonderful ‘Tosca’ here,” said director David Kneuss. “We’re really showing off all the virtues of the piece.” Perhaps the primary virtue is Puccini’s music. “As far as I’m concerned, the music is another character in the play,” said Kneuss. “It’s a character that gets very loud and clear sometimes. It’s a character that sits in the back seat sometimes and sometimes drives the car.”
“Tosca” is set in Italy in 1800 against a background of political unrest. Famed singer Tosca is in love with a painter, Cavaradossi, but she is coveted by the vicious police chief, Scarpia, who imprisons Cavaradossi.
| Onstage |
| ‘Tosca’ |
| Where: Opera House, the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW |
| When: Saturday through Sept. 24 |
| Info: Tickets start at $55; 202-467-4600; kennedy-center.org/wno/ |
“This is a period ‘Tosca,'” said Kneuss. “The narrative is very strong, filled with great emotions that are pictured in the way the music works. It’s an interesting story because it starts at a crisis and it builds through more crises, until the four major protagonists are dead.
“And it all takes place in less than twenty-four hours. It steamrolls, just barrels downhill. Every moment is filled with passion and conflicts and love and hate and torture of individuals for what they believe.”
The WNO production stars Patricia Racette as Tosca, Frank Porretta and Gwyn Hughes Jones as Cavaradossi, and Alan Held and Scott Hendricks as Scarpia.
“The singers were quite familiar with the piece, but I still needed to get everybody on the same page,” explained Kneuss. “So with each act, we sat in a circle and talked about the text. I tried to get everyone to have a commonality of approach. We came out of that first session with an idea of how to get from point A to B.
“The method has been greatly successful for me. We don’t talk about the impact of the story but we might discuss what a certain chord means or whether the music suggests enlightenment or confusion or affirmation.”
Kneuss credits set designer Ulisse Santicchi for making it a clean, accessible production. “It’s a very straightforward set. There are three recognizable locations. In some productions, you can’t tell where the characters are, but in this set everything’s clear.
“I don’t think there’s a bad note of music or a bad dramatic moment in ‘Tosca’ and for this production we’re all committed to really filling it out, fulfilling the mission of showing the piece at its best.”
