Tosca, Royal Opera House, London, review: Adrianne Pieczonka as the current Tosca is disappointing

Paul Brown, who died aged 57 in November, was the most gifted opera designer of his generation. Enormously prolific, he stamped every show with his bold and witty originality. Many images linger in the mind: the copulating rabbits in the Fairy Queen, and the transparent lake of flowers in Pelleas et Melisande; the flooded stage for The Tempest, and the opening scene of Hippolyte et Aricie set inside a giant domestic fridge. And it’s surely thanks in large part to his designs that Jonathan Kent’s Covent Garden production of Tosca should now be on its ninth revival.

These designs may reflect Brown in relatively conventional mode, but they are still wonderfully effective. His church of Sant’Andrea della Valle is a turbulent panorama with robed and veiled figures lit by candles and wreathed in incense, the iron bars of the chapel suggesting established religion’s cruel exclusivity. His conception of Scarpia’s lair is grim and louring, his denouement dusted with mist and stars.

The cast-list promises Angela Gheorghiu in the title role for later performances, but Adrianne Pieczonka as the current Tosca is disappointing: she can act, but there is a hard edge to her sound which militates against the winning grace needed for "Vissi d’arte", and she fails to move us at the close. Gerald Finley’s elegantly-sung Scarpia is short on menace and small in scale, but Joseph Calleja’s Cavaradossi is gloriously sung. Dan Ettinger’s conducting brings out all the cruelty and tenderness of the score.

Until 3 March (roh.ork.uk)