Rating: 
Summary: Tosca?
Review: I love this opera.This video needs a lead that fulfils our image of Tosca, beautiful and bewithching.
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Summary: WOW from a 14 year old opera singer and music fan!
Review: I think that this is a GREAT Tosca! Domingo is a really good actor, and his singing is fab. I have a CD of him singing Mario in Tosca, and I like him lots better when he sings live! Behrens, the soprano that sings the role of Tosca, is an amazing singer and actress! She is not to good in her love scenes, but in the murder scene, she is AMAZING!!!!! And when Mario dies at the end, her acting is again, AMAZING!!!!!!!! And for all of you people that are giving this Tosca bad reviews, since when do you know anything about singing? I think that the problem that you guys have is that you always look at the bad stuff and not the good stuff. I'd love to see you sing the roles of Tosca, Mario, or Scarpia, and see if you can sing/act as well as they did!
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Summary: WHAT A SHAME!!!
Review: I understand that the opera making is very difficult,but what is this?I've never seen more boring performer of Tosca than Behrens.She is an awfull actress!! I propose you to watch the Decca's version with the great RAINA KABAIVANSKA!This is an opera.
Rating: 
Summary: A recording to avoid
Review: I'm gravely disappointed by this recording. The staging is stilted and the performances are inadequate. Domingo sings with dedication, but he isn't in his top form. Behrens is woefully miscast as Tosca, for her unitalianate tone, wobbly delivery and, in some instances, thread-bare voice completely fail to do justice to the role. In my view, this is a recording that one should avoid.
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Summary: A MUST - the one and only!!!!!!
Review: If there is only one TOSCA you must have in your collection: Buy this one! It is marvellous! It's unique! It's great and unforgettible!
Domingo, Behrens and espeially MacNeill are at their best! MacNeill doesn't play and sing Scarpia: he IS Scarpia. You believe every sentence, every gesture. Absolutely magnificent. The stage production of the MET is unforgettible. And when you once have seen THIS final of the first act you will everything forget you have seen before!!!!! ......
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Summary: The Greatest Live Performance Of Puccini's Tosca
Review: In March of 1985, the Metropolitan broadcast on tv a live performance of Puccini's Tosca starring the celebrated tenor Placido Domingo and the dramatic soprano Hildegard Behrens in the lead roles of Tosca and Caravadossi. Cornell Mcneill performs a sensationally wicked Scarpia. This Met broadcast is now available on DVD and it sounds incredible. The production was the brainchild of Franco Zefferelli, the outstanding film director and his authentic touch is expressed in the costumes and scenery realistically depicting Rome, Italy in the aftermath of Napoleon. This DVD is a must have for fans of Placido Domingo, Zefferelli, soprano Hildegard Behrens and the devilish Scarpia portrayed by the incredible baritone Cornell McNeill. The strength of Puccini's Tosca lies squarely in its drama. The opera was drawn from the French play by Victorien Sardou. Melodrama marks the whole of the plot. Scarpia is jealous that the revolutionary idealist artist Mario Caravadossi has won Tosca's heart., Determined to have Tosca for himself he arranges for the romantic artist hero to be executed. Tosca, deeply heartbroken, leaps to her death from a high building. The music is perhaps Puccini's most dramatic (only Turandot reaches such heights). Observe such dramatic moments when chorus and orchestra swell into a crescendo in the scene in which a religious ceremony is conducted in the Cathedral. In this scene, Scarpia declares his lust for Tosca - "Tosca you make me forget God" and the direct polarity between the sacred chorus and the profane vocals of the mendacious Scarpia is climatic. The talents of Domingo and Mcneill are really what make this opera so great. Mcneill's Scarpia is dead-on in its majestic malice. His dark cloak and clothes, his dramatic inflection into his arias and his commanding presence make him by far one of the greatest interpretors of the role. Samuel Ramey, of late, has come to reach equal heights as Mcneill in his performance as Scarpia. Domingo is the very essence of Caravadossi- artistic, romantic and heroic. Domingo's voice is divine and his acting above reproach. Domingo, in fact, is living proof that tenors are not just singers but also actors. Domingo far outshines even Pavarotti, who sings without any real dramatic focus nor puts anything into the drama of his roles. Domingo, on the other hand, is an actor with a powerful and lyric voice. Domingo's art has stretched beyond the limits of the stage and on to film - Rosi's Carmen and Zefferelli's La Traviata and he has been a conductor as well as opera artistic director. As for Behrens, her Tosca looks good and sounds good, satisfying, dramatic but not up to paar with such legends as Maria Callas, Leontine Price, Mirella Freni or Grace Bumbry, all who have performed incredible Toscas in their careers. Conductor Sinopoli and his orchestra pack a powerful punch in what is one of opera's greatest melodramas. A must have for fans.
Rating: 
Summary: a very pleasant performance, despite the catty reviews
Review: It is dumbfounding that many reviews of this Tosca concentrate on Ms. Behrens' appearance in lieu of the overall production. Not only is this catty, it smacks of sexism (E.g. I would be surprised if those who commented on her age would make similarly cheap attacks at having to suspend reality and watch a titanic Pavarotti perform an allegedly starving Rodolfo).
That being said, Behrens' Tosca is vocally compelling and dramatically quite appealing. Domingo's Cavaradossi is the finest on DVD (on par with his filmed performance of the role with Kabaivanska). MacNeil is good, although a bit of a ham (which is a risk of filming live performances, as gestures intended for a large theatre are exaggerated when seen up-close).
Sinopoli masterly leads the strong Met orchestra. Although many professional critics dismiss Zeffirielli productions as over-the-top and sentimental, this video attests to why most audiences love his stagings as representing the true spirit of dramatic opera.
Rating:
Summary: worth it
Review: Lots of people have already said many things that I agree with. However, I really enjoyed Behrens' acting, singing and total commitment to the role of Tosca. She really pushes herself to the limit vocally, but it adds some real spice to the production. Domingo is great too, however MacNeill is at the end of his career and doesn't sound great. The sets, costumes and direction is superb, in all a fabulous production, except for the clapping by the audience when the curtain rises and also singers make their entrances.
Rating:
Summary: Best
Review: Ms. Behrens is phenomenal. I've searched around, and I've yet to hear a soprano give such powerful performances of Visi d'arte or Scarpia's death scene. Her "Mori! Mori! Mori!" is truly visceral. Sure, she could be younger, but nonetheless she does a fantastic job here, the best I've heard. Domingo is excellent too, of course. Finally, the sets are perfect, with no postmodern nonsense.
Rating:
Summary: Best
Review: Ms. Behrens is phenomenal. I've searched around, and I've yet to hear a soprano give such powerful performances of Visi d'arte or Scarpia's death scene. Her "Mori! Mori! Mori!" is truly visceral. Sure, she could be younger, but nonetheless she does a fantastic job here, the best I've heard. Domingo is excellent too, of course. Finally, the sets are perfect, with no postmodern nonsense.
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