TOSCA – REVIEW OF 2026 VANCOUVER OPERA PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Vancouver Opera opened its 67^th season with a superb production of Puccini’s Tosca. Conducted by Jacques Lacombe and directed by Brenna Corner, the artistic director of Pacific Opera Victoria. The production thrilled the audience at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre which gave it a standing ovation.

Soprano Joyce El-Khoury played the tempestuous Floria Tosca with marvelous vocal tones and florid singing when jealous and emotional expressiveness when facing extreme danger. She sings her signature aria “Vissi d'arte” movingly with her gorgeous voice and then turns into a tigress when the odious lecher Scarpia tries to rape her. My only complaint about her murder of Scarpia is that she does not stab him a few times with relish.

Tenor David Pomeroy is her lover Cavaradossi, and he sings with superb sonority and control. From his first aria “Recondita armonia” about the hidden harmony of different beauties, Floria Tosca and  an unknown beauty that he is painting in a church to his final aria “E lucevan le stelle” recalling happier times before he is executed, he sings deliberately, movingly and beautifully. An outstanding performance.

Vancouver Opera’s 2026 production of Tosca. Photos by Emily Cooper.

Gregory Dahl sings the role of the lecherous and sadistic Police Chief Baron Scarpia. He seeks political enemies like Cavaradossi with vengeful obsession, and he descend to total depravity when he tries to rape Tosca. Dahl has a commanding voice and sings splendidly. On a couple of occasions, he comes close to being overwhelmed by the orchestra which seemed surprising. The first time is in church as the chorus sings and I expected him to overwhelm them. He did not. He did not fully display his viciousness and evil when he closed in on Tosca in his office and was of course murdered.

A few quibbles. When Cavaradossi is being tortured off stage we see a projection of a silhouette of a man with his hands tied up above his head. He is being tortured. Cavaradossi is screaming in agony on the right side of the stage. The silhouette is on the left side. Why are the two not on the same side of the stage?

Tosca’s reaction when she stabs Scarpia could be more dramatic. Stab him more and express greater revenge and triumph as you intone Muori dannato! Muori! (Die! damn you! Die!) over his body. We want the odious creep to feel his punishment.

The set by Set and Projection Designer Scott Reid is sparse and efficient. The Church of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Act 1 is represented by large windows with a round top and a statue of the Madonna with lighting designed by Michael Walton to give the impression of a place of worship. For Scarpia’s office in the Palazzo Farnese there is a table, a desk and a couch and they are sufficient to indicate the spacious place of his work efficiently if not grandly.

The same open space minus the furniture on the ramparts of Castel Sant’Angelo serves as the place of execution by firing squad (consisting of only four soldiers) of Cavaradossi and the parapet from which Tosca jumps uttering her last triumphal victory “O Scarpia before God.”

Jacques Lacombe conducts the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera Chorus and the Vancouver Opera Children’s Chorus in outstanding performances. The choruses deserve kudos for performing splendidly if rather briefly in the first act. The orchestra is marvelous throughout.

Lacombe and Corner have chosen a careful and deliberate pace for the production that delivers a marvelous night at the opera.

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Tosca by Giacomo Puccini opened on October 24 and will be performed until November 1, 2026, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton St. Vancouver, BC.  www.Vancouveropera.ca/

James Karas is the Culture Editoe of The Greek Press, Toronto