Gramophone Magazine
May 2019
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month

Anja Harteros, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Ludovic Tézier

Salzburger Bachchor & Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann

Premiered in 1900 with huge success, Puccinis 'melodramma' Tosca is a political thriller with a heart-breaking love story. With his gripping opening scene, stage director Michael Sturminger sets the tone for a cinematic, richly detailed Tosca which is set in the Mafiosi world of modern day Rome and which is 'the perfect thriller reminiscent of Scorseses 'Goodfellas' (Kleine Zeitung), a film noir (FAZ). In this production soprano Anja Harteros is a phenomenal Tosca! (Kurier), unparalleled in the world (Der Standard) and Aleksandrs Antoenko is a Cavaradossi of superlatives (Kieler Nachrichten). The Staatskapelle Dresden under Christian Thielemann 'show again that he is not only a master of German repertoire but also strikes the right note in Italian repertoire'. (Focus)

Recording date: Salzburg Easter Festival, April 2018

Sound format: PCM Stereo, DTS 5.0

Picture: NTSC 16:9

Subtitles: Italian (original language), English, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Japanese

Booklet: English, German, French

Total running time: 120 mins

"The setting here is clearly the present day… for the most part it works very well…The outstanding Anja Harteros is a chic Tosca in shades and slacks…Tézier’s aristocratic baritone suits the suave Godfather scenario…Thielemann wouldn’t necessarily be everyone’s – anyone’s? – idea of a natural Puccini conductor but there’s a certain plush symphonic grandeur to the Staatskapelle’s playing which is highly persuasive." - Gramophone Magazine, May 2019.