NEW YORK OPERA'S `TOSCA' AT RADFORD WAS MERELY ADEQUATE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 26, 1992                   TAG: 9201270052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: E6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
NEW YORK OPERA'S `TOSCA' AT RADFORD WAS MERELY ADEQUATE
The New York City Opera's production of Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" that visited Radford University's Preston Hall on Saturday night was adequate but not much more than that.
It was a production that would have done any regional company in the nation proud, but it was somewhat of a disappointment from a touring company of this caliber.
Not that there weren't bright spots. Robert Brubaker, the handsome tenor who played the role of Cavaradossi, has a trombone of a voice and a pleasing stage presence. And the 30-piece orchestra under maestro Joseph Colaneri played excellently, though frequently so loudly that they drowned out the singers. The sets were impressive for a traveling company, and Joseph Citarella's costumes were perfect.
But it's hard to get a "Tosca" off the ground when your Scarpia, the wicked chief of police, is as wooden an actor as Peter Lightfoot. Lightfoot's bass-baritone was entirely serviceable, but his mildly dyspeptic expression rarely varied from act to act and he simply didn't convey the leering nastiness required of any good Scarpia. Lightfoot's inadequacy was most evident during what should have been his blasphemous declaration of lust for the diva Tosca as the choir sings the "Te Deum," but he might as well have been complaining about a bad dinner.
Similarly, Geraldine McMillian's Tosca was oddly monotonic. As her lover, Cavaradossi, is hauled away to the torture chamber - a moment when any Tosca worth her salt is nearly fainting with terror - McMillian was irritatingly demure.
She did have some good moments. Her heavy-duty soprano projected just the right amount of pathos during the famous "Vissi d'arte" aria and earned her applause and shouts of approval.
Kenneth Nichols' role as the escaped radical Angelotti was satis- factory. And Shawn Roy as the good-for-nothing sacristan gave this show some needed comic relief.
But it was Robert Brubaker as the radical painter Mario Cavaradossi who carried this production on his shoulders from first to last. Good-looking, confident, and with a range of expression seemingly unavailable to the other stars, he sang with a practiced ease that lent depth to a part frequently in danger of being one-dimensional.
His first-act aria "Recondita armonia" was simply superb. And his final meditation before facing the firing squad, "E lucevan le stelle," had a touching simplicity and nobility. Brubaker was the only singer the orchestra was unable, at one time or another, to overpower. It would be good to see what this young artist could do with one of the heavier Verdi roles.
Production values were generally good. One effective scene was Cavaradossi's execution, which is usually staged with the hero facing the audience. But this time his back was to the hall and the soldiers fired their very loud muskets point-blank at the audience, which made half the room flinch unwillingly even though we could see it coming.
\ AUTHOR Seth Williamson produces feature news stories and a classical music program on public radio station WVTF (89.1 FM) in Roanoke.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB