Not quite the sum of its parts: starry casting with Carmen Giannattasio, Saimir Pirgu & Bryn Terfel fails to lift Oxford International Opera's debut with Puccini's Tosca

Puccini: Tosca (Act Three) - Carmen Giannattasio, Saimir Pirgu - Oxford International Opera (Photo: Chris Christodoulou)

Puccini: Tosca; Carmen Giannattasio, Saimir Pirgu, Bryn Terfel, director: P Burton-Morgan, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor: Marios Papadopoulos; Oxford International Opera at New Theatre, Oxford
Reviewed 24 September 2026

The debut performance of a new company proves rather a frustrating experience. Star casting and strong individual performances fail to cohere into a satisfying overall operatic drama

Oxford used to be a regular stopping off point for Glyndebourne Touring Opera (remember them?) and Welsh National Opera, but now home-grown professional companies are springing up to fill the voice. Oxford Opera Company debuted in 2018 (with Tosca) and now has an annual production focusing on young artists. Now they have been joined by Oxford International Opera (OIO).

OIO launched under the auspices of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra (OPO) and its musical director Marios Papadopoulos, with Sir Bryn Terfel as artistic director. And Terfel's name seems to have attracted other star names too. The company's debut production is Puccini's Tosca at the New Theatre Oxford (seen 24 September with a second performance on 26 September). P Burton-Morgan directed and Marios Papadopoulos conducted the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, with designs by Anthony Lamble. Tosca was Carmen Giannattasio, Cavaradossi was Saimir Pirgu, Scarpia was Bryn Terfel with Jamie Woollard as Angelotti, Sion Goronwy as the sacristan and Peter van Hulle as Spoletta.

The setting was resolutely contemporary with Bryn Terfel's Scarpia wandering around with armed heavies. The set for Act One seemed to evoke the designs of Italian brutalist architect Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978) and the sets for the remaining acts utilised the same basic structure. One theatrical element: a false proscenium containing lights that changed colour at crucial moments in the action.

Puccini: Tosca (Act One) - Bryn Terfel - Oxford International Opera (Photo: Alex Brenner)

Burton-Morgan's production seemed to create a different mood in each act. In Act One relations between Tosca (Carmen Giannattasio) and Cavaradossi (Saimir Pirgu) were played quite lightly and many of the histrionic outbursts from Giannattasio's Tosca provoked laughter in the audience, something I have not come across before. Yet in Act Two we seemed to have moved on to Hollywood Noir with both Giannattasio's Tosca and Terfel's Scarpia seemingly encouraged to over-act of at least up the histrionic quotient. Act Three was more abstract, a solo clarinettist appeared on stage during Pirgu's 'E lucevan le stelle'; the shepherd boy having sung his aria carrying a red balloon, this launched into the air after Tosca's death; her death itsef was shied away from, we saw Giannattasio mount the balcony then black, though something red did fall. The result seemed conceptual and rather leaned into the fragmented nature of this act.

The New Theatre does not have a significant pit and OPO (at full strength with 40 strings) spilled over into the stalls. The orchestra was a significant visual factor in the evening. From the opening chords it was clear that Marios Papadopoulos loved Tosca, perhaps too much. He had a tendency to linger longingly over phrases and for all the beauties of his approach the performance lacked real impetus. Speeds were slow, and whilst this gave space for the soloists, the dramatic portions of this most dramatic of operas lacked urgency. Ultimately we ended up with a series of strong solo performances that did not cohere into a drama.

Carmen Giannattasio was a relative light-voiced Tosca. but her voice and her strong stage presence always told. Though she has done projects with Opera Rara, Giannattasio is not a regular enough face in the UK and her last Covent Garden appearance was in 2017, so her appearance as Tosca was most welcome. In Act One she was less the diva and more the jealous girlfriend, light and appealing but dangerous. In Act Two her histrionics counted against her and it is a shame that we did not have a stronger directorial hand to encourage her to realise that less is more. However, 'Vissi d'arte' was very fine indeed, beautifully sung, and the ending of the act moving In Act Three, her eager manner returned to poignant effect.

Puccini: Tosca - Saimir Pirgu, Carmen Giannattasio - Oxford International Opera (Photo: Chris Christodoulou)

Saimir Pirgu made a lithe and engaging Cavaradossi. In Act One his devil-may-care attitude played against Giannattasio's histrionics to create the sense of comedy. His voice blossomed at the big moments and in Act Two he made sure to gives us plenty of tone for 'Vittoria' (along with the requisite tenorial staggering), before going on to mix defiance with devil-may-care. In Act Three, 'E lucevan le stelle' was musical, and he made the death believable.

There was a real sense of malign glee to Bryn Terfel's Scarpia and I had a horrible feeling it was supposed to evoke Donald Trump (complete with suit and red tied). His delivery felt too over-emphatic, too contrived. Perhaps in a period setting with strong atmosphere this might have worked. But in the contemporary setting this Scarpia veered too far towards the comicbook villain.

Vocally he was impressive in the Te Deum, though his vibrato is now far wider than it used to be, yet overall the performance did not bring shivers down the spine. In Act Two, he and Giannattasio sparred with each other in an over-the-top manner worthy of Hollywood greats. Burton-Morgan's production had many thoughtful and interesting details, and Terfel's Scarpia was a highly detailed performance, especially in Act Two (though having him constantly fiddling with his phone did not really add anything). But I had rather wished that Burton-Morgan had had a firmly hand with her performers.

The smaller roles were all well taken. Peter van Hulle (replacing Colin Judson) as Spoletta was a vividly nasty character, very much the apparatchik sidekick. Jamie Woollard made Angelotti rather touching and he did not overdo the physical representation of his distress, keeping it in the voice. Sion Goronwy was a deliberately comic Sacristan, using his bulk to comic effect in a series of vivid, yet overdone interactions with Pirgu's Cavaradossi, Terfel's Scarpia and the choirboys (Radley College Choristers). Misha Gerko was the boy treble Shepherd Boy. His voice was miked, which was a mistake and you rather regretted that the production had not used a female soprano as Puccini expected. Blaise Malaba was a suitably nasty Sciarrone, taking on some of his master's glee, with Robert Winslade Anderson as the jailor.

Anthony Lamble's set for Act One might have looked terrific but it meant that the ending of the act was frustring in its lack of liturgical logic. This left the OIO Chorus rather lacking purpose here (and you wondered whether anyone on the OIO production team had ever attended a Roman Catholic service). However, the chorus did make a strong musical contribution to proceedings. The Radley choristers were a lively bunch, however they rather lacked volume or projection in their crucial scene.

At full strength, the OPO's contribution to the evening certainly was not negligible. Yet it is not an opera orchestra and collectively Tosca would be an unfamiliar score. This told in many small details. Yet they have a strong relationship with Marios Papadopoulos and for better or worse responded to his direction.

Puccini: Tosca - Saimir Pirgu - Oxford International Opera (Photo: Chris Christodoulou)

This was a somewhat frustrating evening. There were many good elements to the performance, interesting ideas and strong individual performances yet overall the results did not quite coalesce into a satisfying whole. The company boasted a strong rota of covers (Paula Sides, Luis Gomes and Eddie Wade) and it was a shame that they could not benefit from a performance too.

OIO will be back in May 2028 with Beethoven's Fidelio. Let us hope the company learns to focus more on cohesive drama and less on star names. 

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