Lyric Opera of Chicago opens season with glowing “Tosca,” but labor problems threaten

Lyric Opera opens season with glowing “Tosca”

CHICAGO — Less than a week after the boobirds perched at New York’s Lincoln Center for the season opening of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its own 2009-10 season Saturday night with the same opera, Puccini’s “Tosca,” and drew only cheers and applause.

To be fair to the New York singers, the negative reaction Monday night wasn’t directed toward them; the hoots were meant for Swiss director Luc Bondy and the Met’s decision to used his heretical ideas in place of its comfortable old Franco Zeffirelli production.

Lyric’s production could be called “Zeffirelli’s Revenge,” because it uses his entire staging, including the original sets created for the London production of “Tosca” he built around Maria Callas in 1964. Lyric bought those sets from Covent Garden in 2004. It’s as conservative — and as rich — as modern opera productions come.

The only thing even vaguely unorthodox about Lyric’s “Tosca” was in the opening night casting. Soprano Deborah Voigt, in the title role, and bass-baritone James Morris, as the villainous Baron Scarpia, are both Americans noted for their muscular German roles, so casting them in such a thoroughly Italian work might seem odd at first. But there was no need to worry. Voigt and Morris were both excellent in their roles and played off each other beautifully and believably, dramatically as well as vocally.

Russian tenor Vladimir Galouzine also wore the hero role of Mario Cavaradossi well, despite some momentary roughness in his first aria, “Recondita armonia.”

Almost unrecognizable in the dark hair the role calls for, Voigt brought both passion and restraint to her Floria Tosca, underlining her character’s flirtatiousness and jealousy in her scenes with Galouzine, and repulsion and horror when confronted by Morris. She was particularly effective a moment or two after asking “why me?” in her big Act II aria, “Vissi d’arte,” when she noticed a knife on Scarpia’s dinner table and surreptitiously clutched it. The sudden change on her face telegraphed a warning that Tosca’s kiss wasn’t going to be anything like Scarpia expected.

And Morris, with his commanding physical presence, didn’t need to indulge in the melodramatic mustache twirling that infected Scarpias of an earlier age. Morris exuded the power the evil police chief would have had in 1800 Rome and emphasized his hypocrisy and cynicism through a subtle form of underplaying. His Scarpia was almost a gentleman, and that “almost” made him all the more horrifying.

The fact that in a time of troubled economy and dwindling audiences, both the New York and Chicago companies chose to begin their seasons with the same work is an indication that “Tosca” is that best sort of warhorse; the kind with sturdy enough legs to pull it off.

When “Tosca” is well done, as it was Saturday night, it’s almost the perfect Italian opera. It has lush melodies, Puccini’s masterful orchestration and all the necessary emotional elements of desire, hate and betrayal. And it’s set at the ever-popular triple intersection of sex, politics and religious hypocrisy.

The one jarring note on Lyric’s opening night occurred outside the building, when members of the Chicago Federation of Musicians handed out leaflets informing operagoers that members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra were working without a contract.

According to the union, bargaining with Lyric began more than four months ago, but Lyric walked out and did not resume talks until three weeks before opening night. The union was seeking a multiyear contract, but said management’s “final offer” Friday night was a one-year contract with wage and benefit freezes.

Lyric General Director William Mason issued a statement late Saturday denying management had walked out of negotiations.

Mason confirmed that Lyric’s Friday night offer was for a one-year contract freezing wages and benefits, but he said in the most recent negotiating session, the orchestra musicians asked for a four-year contract containing a 22.6 percent wage and benefit increase.

“The recession is severely affecting Lyric’s revenue picture,” Mason said. “And we will not enter into a labor contract that we can’t afford. The wage demands of the orchestra are unrealistic in the current climate.”

Neither side would comment Saturday night on what the labor dispute might mean for the rest of the 2009-10 season.

If the season continues as planned, there will be five more performances of “Tosca” with the current cast, the last one on Oct. 13.

From Jan. 10 to Jan. 29, there will be six more performances, with Violete Urmana as Tosca, Marco Berti as Cavaradossi and Lucio Gallo as Scarpia.