What an ending!!!

[JacobsSilhouette]

Hitman Blood Money lol classic

[operassassin]

I think she clicks her heals.

The effects of the years of abuse she put her voice through singing inappropriate repertoire are evident here. The sound is uneven, unstable and has developed a pushed, often-flat tremolo.

At least she jumps well, if nothing else.

[RandWBL]

I saw this performance and it stands in our memories as the finest Tosca we've ever seen. The staging was a dramatic departure and the singers in their finest voice. The ending is chilling! I was looking for previews of the new release of the Met 2009 production when I just discovered that this production was taped and now on DVD. I'll be ordering a copy of this immediately. Thank you for posting this!!

[cubanbach]

WOW that fall really IS EPIC - it's GRANDIOSE to the nth degree! I am shaking!

[tigerbob2185]

That looks like a fabulous piece of production. Very dramatic.

[alexgomez2]

Wow! The fall and the scorn from an infamous Spoletta signaling the fallen Mario in a mocking way. Undoubtelly the most realistic execution ever produced. It's just amazing!

[janeym]

does anyone else suspect that she studied dance? hahaha!

[AmaranthCasket]

oh, sweet tune from a cradle..as a 6 year old kid, i imitated, acted out this scene so many times from the 14th floor roof yelling out ,"oh, scarpia, see you in the hell." still gives me peculiar blend of nostalgia and dramatic catharsis it induces.

[MrsMosquiz]

Tengo que decirlo es de mis favoritos de youtube siempre que lo veo se me dibuja una sonrisa

[LohengrinT]

ah her tits project so well through that dress :))

Tosca with tits I hadnt seen before :))

[Cramnella]

I saw my first "Tosca" totally cold, so the finale just about KILLED me!

[Montyleeny14]

I don't like this interpretation - the ending was a bit violent and gothic themed.

I dislike this. Sorry.

[seguroesxmiculpa]

@Montyleeny14 Agree. But the falling is great!

[avalokiteshivara]

Simplesmente exelente!!

[MrCabarq]

mucho mejor final que el de KT Kanawa...!!

[bikiniboys]

slow-motion is.

[Jeanne90275]

Wonderful performance, but the costumes

and the set...what were they thinking????

[SchugOo]

Genial!!!

[nikodemus7777]

Grausam!

[Pywacket2]

Zowie.

[papoocanada]

Totally agree with GAEMP what a stupid staging. What has it got to do with Rome ?

Nice jump though, at least she didn't bounce right back up like Milanov.

[UlfenDaddy]

I love things subtitled in Dutch; it's so much fun (and obviously the FUN FACTOR is high on Miss Nivens' priorities as well!) "Wat is hij mooi, mijn Mario?" (1:17.) I'd always wondered what happened with Catherine Malfitano! She was our star in a Michigan Opera Theatre production of Lucia (1977 or 78;) I was the conductor's understudy and played in the Viola section.

[gaemp]

yes, it's look like Castel Sant'Angelo in the beginning of 19th century,,,, a kind of discopub... simply horrible. This is the way to take people far from Opera... they can't understand anything about the story and what happens... for this reason Opera is so distant from people's taste... thanks to these geniuses!!!

[steakopera]

Slow-mo jump is surreal.

[94jwong]

wait how did they do that?!

[rolocgn]

Just a jump

[BorisGodunov]

@94jwong If you watch the motion of the shadow of the fan, you can see that the video is slowed down when she jumps, although the audio is not.

[ejrouge]

That was such a shocking a poetic fall, he he. Thank you for posting this.

[SiEtIn1]

great ending really! the gun was random though

[AliciaDupres]

Shocking at first, cool, really cool, afterwards. And that was a great jump. The part with the gun was not necessary but Ok, let it be, why not? The fan is strange but interesting too. Who is Mario? Bad choice (from the appearance point of view but maybe vocally he was Ok).

[RMATHSEN]

@AliciaDupres

[RMATHSEN]

@AliciaDupres I think that the gun part WAS necessary - she had to keep them all at bay. But it's not a fan: it's a movie film reel. Don't forget: this was done in the '90s.

[vilabreze]

Malfitano is a great Tosca, see and hear her in "Tosca" (1992) with Ruggero Raimondi, it's electrifying! As for the modernistic performance, I don't care much for it, the fan is a little too distracting for me, but the singing is perfect.

[OperaAdmirer]

I like Malfitano a lot! Look and listen at her performances in "Tosca"'s and "Salome"! Just great!

[santuzza60]

That was really cool....... Loved it!

[MastersoftheOpera]

I see nothing impressive about this.Malfitano's voice for Tosca by 1998 was not in as good a shape as it was earlier in the decade ('91) when she sang opposite Domingo for a film on location in Rome. She sings terribly in this one! And what an awful production! What's that fan doing up there ? there is no "Castel San Angelo" set! No good period costumes. And if she owned a gun she coulda have shot Scarpia instead of stabbed him with a knife LOL

[altodivo]

Ummm...perhaps you should see the whole production before condemning it. It is generally considered to be one of the finest Tosca's of the second half of the 20th Century. She finds the gun in Scarpia's apartments after the murder and takes it with her. It is not 'traditional' but it is true to the music and the emotions behind it.

[MastersoftheOpera]

A gun in Scarpia's apartment ? LOL Come on LOL How can you like something that's not true to Puccini's original production and his vision about Tosca which is set during Napoleonic Italy ? Modern productions don't appeal to me. And again, she's really not singing beautifully in this one. That jump at the end is the only nice thing about the whole nigmare production

[ernestalba]

How about a little imagination? Or do we lose that ability in adolescence?

[MastersoftheOpera]

I'm a writer and I have an imagination but I'm terribly picky about my opera and I like to be visually entertained with great productions as well as great singing. That's all I ask for! Just perfect operas!

[ernestalba]

I'd say that fall was very visually entertaining. I still can't figure out how it's done.

[hersenlozeslet]

But admit that you are very traditionalist in your taste... to the point of closedmindedness. Then again... perfection is something that ought to be extremely rare.

[Jaydoggy531]

@hersenlozeslet

I wouldn't call it closed-minded when someone criticizes a work for doing something against the libretto. By contrast, I criticize a director who feels he or she can't work with a script or the characters that were displayed. If they find themselves lacking that ability, then perhaps they should question whether they should be producing the work in the first place, and instead promote a modern play or opera, or instead give it to a different director who has the ability.

[hersenlozeslet]

You should have been there... it was absolutely fantastic, both visually and musically. Riccardo Chailly directed the Concertgebouworkest beautifully, Malfitano was electrifying, Terfel sly and sexy and Richard Margison reduced everyone to tears... it really was a monumental production of DNO.

[raythespian]

Malfitano and Corelli would have been the ideal pair. Was that Heppner? The scream was comical because it came before she could know he was dead. Smart idea to bring a gun with her for the journey. Fantastic leap!!!

[mrlammermoor]

she might have seen the blood on him when she put the sheet away. the scream works

[tripleaxell]

wow!! that fall is epic!!!!

[amfortas1978]

very good acting.

but ... i have to say her final note is off pitch

[BGSourgas]

Is this the Lehnoff Tosca with terfel? the whole thing is fantastic start to finish

[elephantbarbiegirl]

Wow! I keep coming back to this one. The production looks ambitious and the staging in this scene works very well. This is how I imagine Tosca at this point in the opera; fiery, passionate and somewhat deranged! What a fantastic leap too- it looked a little slow motion, enhancing the drama of the moment. I wonder how they achieved that.......?

[editakovac]

Hvala na prijateljstvu,spot je jako dobar.

Ferenc  Kovacs

[cleanears]

What Conservatory of Music is this?

[iWalkure]

Fabolous - I love it when a new somewhat modernized production is so great and dramatic. Great scene and jump by Malfitano.

[TheBasilio]

Estamos en el siglo XX y la escenografia es valida, es el mejor salto heroico que le da verdadero climax a la opera, no como tantas gordas que cantan lindo pero a la hora del salto se les ve como un teatro de colegio y en vez de dramatico se vuelve risible. asi es el arte..

[Drelnis]

OH MY GOD. FIrst I thought she was kinda gonna shoot herself int he head, and then I saw the jump and it was like BAM so powerful. I laughed loudly at her scream when she finds Mario dead though, it reminds me of sit com scenes.

[mrlammermoor]

I love this jump... still: it is slowed down to be longer, you can see it at spoletta's movements.

[yukio84]

La scenografia è orrenda, che c'entra la ventola? Ed anche il resto non è per niente bello...

[beeltube]

This was the best Tosca I ever witnessed. Maltitano was incredible. Per il resto, cosa?

[ulphilos]

Great! The best ending of "Tosca" I know!

[kenofer]

Brava Catherine!!! The best jump I see ever!!!!

[nimcr]

Holy Mackerel!!!! Who was that soprano??? To scream as authentically as that upon discovering Mario's truly dead and not wreck herself, yet come back with that final high note and jump with such incredible style!!!! THANK YOU SUE ANN NIVENS!!!!!

[jcashtr02]

I'm no opera buff, but this Presto, Su! Mario! is one of the greatest musical endings I've ever heard!!!

[planthi80]

this is the best ending to date~!

[planthi80]

this is wonderful~! please post more of it~! can one get it yet on DVD?

[SueAnnNivens]

Sure! Decca released it a couple of months ago, the video quality is great, and there´s a "behind the scenes".

[PianoQuasiForte]

I don't like it

[aModernDandy]

wow that's really impressive. I'm an extra in a Tosca production in Bregenz at the moment, and I really like it. The only bit I don't like is the ending that was done so well in this version!

[longlifeluke]

....orribile....o_O

[Choen444]

Terrific

[mariogalileo]

OH MY GOD... SHE JUMPED!!!!!!

[bluecross7]

Amazing. I would like it a bit less modern decorated, but way they play it is just amazing!! The best accent here is this soldier "pointing her way to the body" after execution. It's just amazing.

[BlueCougar]

What a jump! Amazing!

[nithyado]

não gosto da modernização, o final de osca já é complicado para que complicar mais, O unico final de tosca digno da opera é o de Renatta Tebaldi, por favor, me entendam só estou falenmdo do final, porque para mim é Callas.

[VCDartay]

I'm not sure why she didn't just blow her brains out, though... The gun really distracted me. Malfitano was quite the diva.

[altodivo]

Her scream at 2:24 is horrific. So reckless. I dont know many sopranos who would do it. And the final note isn't SHARP like it usually is from others. Love the final leap. Wish I had seen her live when she was in her prime.

[Voluptuossa1234]

I agree... That scream can't be good for her voice.

[LETTIS79]

I think it's a coordinated scream with appoggio, otherwise she wouldn't be able to sing one note afterwards. Love it!!!

[egyboy67]

Anyone saw the Hildegard Behrens video from the Met, during which she wrecks her voice on the "Muori, Dannata's" at the end of act 2, THEN goes on to sing a glorious act 3?

[Fiddlerfrank]

Stunning! Terrific production and amazing intensity from C.M. She was really something in her day.

A wonderful and complete artist. Way ahead of her time in her acting,IMHO.

[Cramnella]

Goosebumps from head to toes!  The first time I saw "Tosca" I saw it absolutely cold with no idea what the story was. When she leaped from the parapet my shock and horror was so extreme that it couldn't have been more intense if the actress had actually committed suicide before my eyes on stage.

[Alyson69]

Catherine is the consumate actress. She is fab. I

[operadm]

thrilling. Puccini is much maligned as too popular, but performances as this show why his music and drama has flourished for a century