The Jerusalem Opera performs an evening of Puccini - "Il tabarro" and Act II of "Tosca". Conductor: Omer Arieli. Stage director: Daniel Lasry.

 

Yasmine Levi-Ellentuck (Snir Katzir)

Florin Estefan (Snir Katzir)

If you find murder, treachery, trickery and lasciviousness too much to take, the Jerusalem Opera's recent production of Giacomo Puccini operas was certainly not for you. But for those of us who relish the musical richness, excitement and intensity of early 20th-century Italian opera, the performance on October 25th 2025 at the Jerusalem Theatre did not disappoint. Indeed, it was a sparkling occasion with which to kick off the new season. As per usual, Omer Arieli, the Jerusalem Opera's house conductor, directed the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, with singers from Israel and abroad. The Jerusalem Opera was established in 2011, with the goal of presenting opera productions of the highest quality in the capital and promoting Israeli arts. 

 

A one-act opera "Il tabarro" (The Cloak), the first of the three operas comprising Puccini’s Il trittico (triptych), was premiered in New York in December 1918. The libretto, by Giuseppe Adami, is based on Didier Gold's 1910 play "Houppelande". Michele is married to young Giorgetta, sharing with her their life of hardships on a barge on the river Seine. Giorgetta is in love with Luigi, a young stevedore hired by her husband. After Michele overhears his wife arranging a night rendezvous with Luigi, he waits for him, attacks him, forces him to admit he is his wife's lover and finally strangles him. He hides the body under his cloak. When the apprehensive Giorgetta comes on deck, asking Michele if he might wish her to come and rest near him under his cloak, lights flash in the fateful night sky and her husband throws the cloak open to reveal the lifeless body of her lover. In the role of Michele, Romanian-born baritone Florin Estefan gave a sensitive presentation of the dejected (and rejected) older husband, as we follow his pain. The sullen vocal colour infused in his singing did not detract from his beautiful tonal quality and phrasing. No new face to Jerusalem Opera performances, Israeli soprano Yasmine Levi-Ellentuck gave an affecting portrayal of Giorgetta, a woman suffering from her unhappy marriage. (She and Michele are both mourning the loss of their young child a year earlier.)  Levi-Ellentuck's vocal coloration, facial gestures and posture demonstrate the coldness she feels towards her husband, this in strong contrast to the feminine energy Luigi sets off in her heart. We see the light-hearted side of Giorgetta when she brings out wine for the stevedores and dances. Careful not to cut too sympathetic a character, the persona of Luigi, Giorgetta's lover, was drawn by Italian tenor Ivan Defabiani. With everything one could wish for in a Puccini tenor, his robust vocal tone might have prejudiced the audience to more sympathy than he deserved, but this conundrum is innate to the role of Luigi. Lighter moments provide a break from the dark drama at hand, to mention one - local mezzo soprano Noa Hope's jaunty characterization of the skittish Frugola.  Maestro Arieli's superb direction of the JSO brought out the lush palette of timbral colour offered by Puccini's orchestral writing, as he built the intensity of the score to fever pitch, its gestures commenting and forewarning, relaxing only briefly for the dance scene. The stage set was pleasing and the lighting effective. In true verismo style, "Il tabarro", a fine exposition of one of Puccini's most unrelentingly dark moments, depicts simple people, those who work hard just to survive, and even harder to find a little joy in their arduous lives. Here are touching portrayals of real men and women: their hopes, their dreams and their bitter disappointments.

 

Premiered in 1900, Puccini's "Tosca" (libretto: Luigi Illica, Giuseppi Giacosa) is based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, "La Tosca". In Act 2, which provided the second half of the evening’s double bill, we leave the drudgery of simple folk to join the powerful upper echelons in Rome of June 1800, where the Kingdom of Naples' control of the city is being threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. Baron Scarpia (Florin Estefan) is in his quarters at the Palazzo Farnese, where Floria Tosca (Yasmine Levi-Ellentuck), a renowned opera singer, will celebrate the victory over Napoleon with a cantata. Scarpia's agent has found the painter Cavaradossi (Ivan Defabiani), Tosca's lover, who is suspected of aiding the fugitive Angelotti's escape. Scarpia orders Cavaradossi to be interrogated under torture, explaining to Tosca that she can shorten her lover's torture by “co-operating”. Though she tries to resist Scarpia's advances, she hears Cavaradossi's cries of pain and reveals Angelotti's hiding place to Scarpia. Scarpia immediately halts the torture. Cavaradossi realises that Tosca has betrayed him. Scarpia then receives news from his valet Sciarrone (Lev Elgardt): this report of victory over Napoleon was false and the royal army has been beaten. Cavaradossi sings a revolutionary song, insulting Scarpia, indeed, sealing his own death sentence. Scarpia orders him to be taken away. Tosca now knows that only she can save her lover’s life. She offers Scarpia a ransom, but Scarpia's price is Tosca herself. She accepts the deal. Scarpia orders Spoletta (Marc Shaimer) to perform a fake execution of Cavaradossi the next morning. Tosca wants to hand the execution order to Cavaradossi herself, explain the situation to him and attend the mock execution. She also forces Scarpia to sign a letter of safe conduct for her and Cavaradossi so they can leave the next day. But, once she is alone with Scarpia, Tosca quietly takes a knife from the supper table and stabs him as he embraces her; she grabs the letter and leaves the room. In the understated but elegant stage set, with the JSO players seated at the back of the stage, the Jerusalem Opera artists bring to life the urgency, suspense and emotion of this well-known masterpiece, with its the combination of Puccini’s glorious music, its story of the struggle between love and art and the outcome of ruthless forces of power, greed, and control. Formidable in her singing, engaging the many colours of her lovely soprano voice, Levi-Ellentuck delivers a vulnerable, loving, impulsive, anguished yet strong-willed Tosca. The distress she expresses throughout the opera is authentic and moving. Estefan's fine deep baritone voice and physical size exude menace, power and malice. He is the dark contrast to Cavaradossi’s lightness. Drawing together all the elements of the opera's complexity, Maestro Arieli skilfully weaves the strands of the plot into Puccini’s music, highlighting the storyline’s different turns, performing the music with prudent timing and sensitivity, always flexible in accompaniment and strong in illustrative effects.

 

This event offered a grand opportunity to mark World Opera Day, celebrated annually on October 25th (the birthday of Georges Bizet and Johann Strauss II,)