An opera in three acts
Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica
after the play La Tosca by Victorien Sardou
English version by Edmund Tracey
The Cast
Jane Eaglen, soprano, PMF Scholar - Floria Tosca
Dennis O'Neill, tenor - Mario Cavaradossi
Gregory Yurisich, baritone - Baron Scarpia
Peter Rose, bass - Cesare Angelotti
Andrew Shore, bass-baritone - Sacristan
John Daszak, tenor - Spoletta
Christopher Booth-Jones, bass - Sciarrone
Ashley Holland, bass (PMF Scholar) - Jailor
Charbel Michael, alto - A Shepherd Boy
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
The Peter Kay Children`s Choir
Philharmonia Orchestra
David Parry - conductor
Recorded in Blackheath Halls, London
25-27 & 29-30 August 1995
Producer - Brian Couzens, Sound engineer - Ralph Couzens,
Assistant engineer - Richard Smoker
'Jane Eaglen's Tosca is a high-voltage performance. Her ability to judge all the subtle nuances of sound and phrasing in this role is acutely displayed in Act II... O'Neill's... sense of Puccinian style is a considerable bonus. Yurisich's Scarpia is a properly nasty piece of work, delivered with plenty of dramatic detail. All the smaller parts are strongly taken, with Andrew Shore's Sacristan a perfect cameo and Peter Rose's Angelotti firm and trenchant. With the score's dark and vivid colours marvellously conveyed by the Philharmonia, conductor David Parry presents a reading balancing lyrical and dramatic elements with absolute assurance.'
