Puccini: Tosca - Scotto, Domingo, Levine, Philharmonia Orchestra (2 CDs)

Puccini: Tosca
Renata Scotto (Tosca), Placido Domingo (Cavaradossi), Renato Bruson (Scarpia), John Cheek (Angelotti), Andrea Velis (Spoletta), Paul Hudson (Sciarrone), Dominick Martinez (Un pastore), Itzhak Perlman (Un carceriere)
Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, James Levine

Renata Scotto became James Levine’s soprano of choice for Italian repertoire at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. She embodies Tosca, the passionate Roman diva, with compelling immediacy and beguiling finesse, while Plácido Domingo gives glorious voice to the idealism and ardour of her lover, Cavaradossi. If there is an aristocratic elegance to Renato Bruson’s Scarpia, it only serves to highlight the Chief of Police’s heartless, calculating villainy.