Not only were these perilous moments perfectly executed but Radvanovsky’s dramatism, chest voice and parlato, screamed moments were terrifying. She has to sing three high Cs and several fortissimo B flats over the orchestra at its loudest, while she is being shaken and throw to the floor. It is when Tosca enters in the second act that the soprano has to face tremendous challenges. In her cantata, sung off-stage, where she sings her first high C and B natural, her sound was again heard over the entire choir. In the first act, where she suffers two attacks of jealousy and flirts with her lover, Radvanovsky sounded easy and youthful. You felt as if the soprano was singing right beside your ear. She was the only one in this cast who could be heard consistently and clearly over the needlessly loud orchestra. Her dark, dry, powerful timbre, her cavernous chest voice register, her secure big top notes and the ability to sing impossible pianissimi make this soprano, who has sang more than 200 performances of this role, ideal for Puccini’s heroine. This powerful, truthful, and moving characterization goes along with probably one of the best voices currently out there. Radvanovsky hypnotized us from the outset. From the moment the soprano entered the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle and until she jumped from the battlements of castle Sant’Angelo, the audience could only see a powerful woman consumed by jealousy and love, a victim of blackmail and sexual harassment, killing in cold blood, dreaming about a new life with her lover, and ultimately assuming with dignity and poise her suicide as her only way out. Ultimately, the answer was yes and Radvanovsky and Kaufmann gave triumphant encores of their arias, making history at Teatro Real.
Moreover, Radvanovsky has sung four encores of her aria “Vissi d’arte “ for the opera house so far, and there was buzz in the air about whether the tenor would follow suit. The expectations for the German superstar were high, as high as he has not participated in any opera productions with Teatro Real in the last few seasons. Kaufmann joined the cast alongside Radvanovsky and Carlos Álvarez for two performances. The Teatro Real de Madrid closed its season with 16 performances of “Tosca” and an incredible cast of three sopranos: Sondra Radvanovsky, Maria Agresta and Anna Netrebko and four tenors: Joshep Calleja, Michael Fabiano, Jonas Kaufmann and Yusif Eyvazov.
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