Rating: 
Summary: Simply dreadful....
Review: Cura has been advertised as being a protege of Domingo. He's not. That was just hype. I had bought his first CD, his voice showing no timbre at all and really unattractive. However, I thought, well, heck, I'll give him another try and one cannot have too many Toscas. Now I have one too many. This version must have been done on a shoe string, it is spare, to say the least and so is the singing. Ms. Pantane is little better than Mr. Cura and her singing is, like his, more in the nature of screaming although she does have a bit of timbre. An altogether displeasing DVD and one I hesitate to give away in case someone might think it was a decent Tosca.
Rating: 
Summary: ORGASMIC ..........
Review: For want of a better word ~ that's this stellar production in a nutshell. Decor, costumes, voices, conducting ..... this one shows clearly that you don't need mega-stars, just pure commitment to the subject, to shine!FRANCESCA PATANE ignites the senses as does JOSE CURA with this near perfect union of their vocal and dramatic talents. very much along the lines of a May/June/December affair ~ with RENATO BRUSON as the chilly, sad Scarpia. Minor flaws? The slight commedia touches provided by the rest of the cast, but that's somewhat traditional and to be expected. Excellently presented in wide-screen, superior sound and vivid color choices {RECORDED 'LIVE'}. NOT to be missed. Now if only Patane and Cura would record CARMEN ........
Rating: 
Summary: Bravo Cura!
Review: Francesca Patane in the title role of Tosca was superb in her performance, she was rich in her vocally expression. I was, however, mostly taken by the performance of Jose Cura,who played Cavaradossi, the painter. Not only is Cura's vocal splendor unsurpassed, we
also have an opera singer who can actually act. His acting was delicious to watch and totally believable. The caring and tenderness he brought to this role was remarkable. Cura's voice was as powerful as I have ever seen it, lucky for him that he had a partner who was able to match his voice with every note. A very splendid performance. I highly recommend this DVD to anyone who loves opera as much as I do.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo Cura!
Review: Francesca Patane in the title role of Tosca was superb in her performance, she was rich in her vocally expression. I was, however, mostly taken by the performance of Jose Cura,who played Cavaradossi, the painter. Not only is Cura's vocal splendor unsurpassed, we
also have an opera singer who can actually act. His acting was delicious to watch and totally believable. The caring and tenderness he brought to this role was remarkable. Cura's voice was as powerful as I have ever seen it, lucky for him that he had a partner who was able to match his voice with every note. A very splendid performance. I highly recommend this DVD to anyone who loves opera as much as I do.
Rating: 
Summary: Technical disappointments
Review: I can't recommend this DVD very highly because of two technical failures, one important, the other merely annoying. It is hugely disappointing to find that a performance such as this with so much artistic talent at so many levels in a work as complex as opera is, is so basically flawed by a simple technical goof. The portable microphone used to record Patane's voice (Tosca herself) is faulty, so the result is that her voice throughout has a tinny quality that simply ruins her performance. For me, an absolute catastrophe. The other voices and the orchestra come across superbly (although I agree that Renato Bruson (Scarpia) has problems at his age controlling an unpleasantly wide vibrato on the higher notes.) Now I have a high quality audio set, but even on a run-of-the-mill system, it couldn't sound good. Terrible error which would have required dubbing or re-recording. Instead, the faulty product went on the market, and I bought it, to my disappointment. Buyer beware. The second technical fault is the NUMEROUS silly spelling and capitalization errors in the English sub-titles. It is simply astounding to think that such basic errors could be missed at the technical level. I won't forgive the audio problem being passed along to the buyer. So how could I in honesty recommend it to others?
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre
Review: It's not bad. It's not good, but it's not bad. The singing is good, if not fantastic, except in the case of Scarpia, where it is quite fantastic. It lacks, however, in the staging aspects. The acting of Scarpia is very convincing, but Cura's acting as Cavaradossi is very mediocre, and the Prima Donna's is downright laughable. The stage people decided to base the opera in 1800, but the hair people decided Cura should come from 1995. The conducting is shaky in terms of its commitment to the score. The sets are quite good, very convincing, and the lights and sound seem well organized. All in all, a well-deserved three stars, but nothing more.
Rating:
Summary: what a surprise!
Review: This is a miracle........a must for any serious Opera lover and any admirer of Puccini. Miss Patane is simply superb. Her voice is a ghost voice to la Divina, our only Callas. Miss Patane can sing and act. even so this was a simple production in Bari, this LIVE performance is wonderful. As for Mr. Cura, he is a very touching and sensual Cavaradossi. His voice is what Puccini wanted when he wrote Cavaradossi. This was a great surprise and cannot wait for any new release of Francesca Patane's recording. VITTORIA!
Rating:
Summary: Is This a Joke???
Review: This is an underehearsed mess. I'm sorry to have to say this, but this has got to be one of the worst performances of this masterpiece I've ever seen. I believe that even as I speak Giacomo is turning in his grave because of what these second rate amateurs have done to his brilliant work. First of all, the conductor Morandi and his orchestra are terribly sloppy, shiftless, and uninspired. The first opening bars of this work should knock one out of one's seat. With this production you get the impression that everyone just woke up. Like Jane Eaglen, they all sound as though they're just doing a job and take no joy in it whatsoever. Secondly, the sets look like cheap "erect-a-set" cardboard cutouts that shake quite frequently when slammed, shut or rubbed against. The only redeemable prop is the Castel Sant'Angelo in Act III, and even then I say this with some trepidation. The actors in the supporting roles made me laugh. The Sacristan looks as though he needs a girdle, and the other supporting roles such as Spoletta have no involvement in the drama at all. When they sing, they look as though they're reading off of cue cards. The chorus basically sucks in the Te Deum. Many of the chorus members just look around at each other barely mumbling the words while others just sing nothing because they don't know the libretto. Jose Cura is average, I certainly can't see what the rage is about concerning his voice, it just doesn't do anything for me. I would certainly prefer Domingo over him and definitely Franco Corelli, the supreme Cavardossi. His acting is a hit and miss affair and lacks charisma and stage presence. Francesca Patane sounds eerily like La Divina Callas and vocally throws herself into the role with tremendous intensity. But this is not enough to redeem an otherwise lackluster performance. Her acting is a pure joke and is often misdirected. Her acting just doesn't match the power of her voice which is a huge dissapointment. Renato Bruson looks like he's just ready to go home and looks tired, worn, and under strain. He is exellent as Scarpia in the recording with Scotto as Tosca. But here he is much past his days of glory. Lastly, the subtitles for this production can't even be seen entirely, and are either mispelled or have capitalization errors, this is unacceptable. I hate to sound snobbish, but it is quite obvious that this performance has been given by a provincial opera house and not one of the major international operatic venues. It sounds like it, and looks like it. Don't waste your money on this travesty. Go with either Daniela Dessi's Tosca DVD, or the Definitive Zeffirelli MET performance with Behrens and Domingo.
Rating:
Summary: ORGASMIC ..........
Review: This is just about the worst opera performance I've ever seen. I thought I couln't have too many Toscas either. Wrong! Buying this was a waste of money. Cura is mediocre at best and Patane is just embarrassing! Terrible voice! The acting was lousy as well. Cura is often looking amused at the wrong times and wonder if he found this entire thing a fiasco as well. He seemed to be laughing internally at Patane's performance, (if you can call it a performance). The only surprise is that anyone liked this Tosca at all. Any other Tosca is better than this and the original movie with Domingo is perhaps still the best available on video.
Rating:
Summary: Skip this Tosca
Review: This is just about the worst opera performance I've ever seen. I thought I couln't have too many Toscas either. Wrong! Buying this was a waste of money. Cura is mediocre at best and Patane is just embarrassing! Terrible voice! The acting was lousy as well. Cura is often looking amused at the wrong times and wonder if he found this entire thing a fiasco as well. He seemed to be laughing internally at Patane's performance, (if you can call it a performance). The only surprise is that anyone liked this Tosca at all. Any other Tosca is better than this and the original movie with Domingo is perhaps still the best available on video.
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