Crystal Palace Bowl, London
David Junghoon Kim, Roland Wood and Natalya Romaniw were excellent in ENO’s outdoor semi-staging of Puccini’s opera
Sleaford Mods three weeks ago, now Puccini’s Tosca: the South Facing festival, which has brought Crystal Palace Bowl back to life as a performance venue at weekends this summer, has aimed at something for everyone. With most of the audience – except the seated few at the front – stretched out on the grass, watching English National Opera’s singers as much on the big screens as in the flesh, and with Donna Stirrup’s modern-dress semi-staging crammed in front of the orchestra, this performance was taking place very much not under usual theatrical conditions: the burger and pizza stands were doing a brisk trade as Tosca bargained for her lover’s life.
It shouldn’t have worked, perhaps, and yet a belting musical performance, relayed via an impressively responsive sound system, overcame the distractions. And sometimes the results were magical: David Junghoon Kim’s Cavaradossi was able to sing his wrenching final aria to some actual stars, not just the red lights on Crystal Palace’s TV mast.
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