Puccini: Tosca 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Puccini: Tosca 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 1, 2017

It’s been almost a year since Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro 4K was released, and around four months or so since the release of Wagner: Lohengrin 4K, and so to my knowledge the disc currently under review now becomes only the third opera to receive a 4K UHD presentation. Unlike Le Nozze di Figaro and Lohengrin, however, this release does come with a standard Blu-ray included (so you get screenshots, albeit sourced from the Blu-ray disc), and this new release is also being touted as (and this is a quote from the packaging, so the verbiage is that of ArtHaus Musik, not me) “the worldwide first 35mm celluloid opera film in 4K”. Kind of interestingly for me personally, this film adaptation of Giacomo Puccini’s legendary if sometimes critically reviled Tosca was helmed by Benoit Jacquot, who I “spent some time with” (in a viewing sense) a couple of years ago when I reviewed The Disenchanted , A Single Girl, and Keep It Quiet (all three are available as part of The Benoit Jacquot Collection). If Le Nozze di Figaro and Lohengrin offered a recreation of a live theatrical performance, this Tosca exists in a kind of cinematic purgatory that is frankly neither here (i.e., live stage performance) nor there (i.e., a truly "cinematic" adaptation), though it does include "live on stage" (or at least "live in the recording studio") elements and more purely filmic approaches that put it intermittently at least in line with other operatic adaptations that take full advantage of what the medium of film can offer, like Francesco Rosi’s 1984 film version of Carmen or the 2008 cinematic adaptation of Puccini’s own La Bohème.

The stylistic “flourishes” (if they can be called that) that Benoit Jacquot brings to this treatment of Tosca may well be off putting to opera lovers who want a clear presentation that is either a live stage performance or an actual film, and the fact that Jacquot seems to want to have his cake and eat it, too, (so to speak) makes this a frankly kind of odd hybrid that I suspect may not satisfy adherents who are strictly devoted to that either/or sensibility. The film includes a number of black and white interstitials that document the pre-recording of the score, but it regularly lapses into a kinda sorta “live stage” feeling with a production that offers only bare minimums in terms of set dressings and the like, and so almost plays at times like a staged reading (this is a relative statement, since the “performance” side of this offering does have props, costumes and other accoutrements one would expect of a true staged outing).

According to some online interviews I uncovered in researching background for this review, Jacquot evidently originally planned on a more purely cinematic treatment of the material, one that would have included live singing to a pre-recorded orchestral playback, but technical difficulties made that approach unfeasible. That at least probably accounts for the use of the recording session material, but it fails to account for the rather bizarre “half measures” Jacquot takes in the staged aspects. Other video “bells and whistles” intrude at regular intervals, including intentionally “distressed” looking establishing shots, a number of kind of odd grading choices. But even the supposedly straightforward sequences that play more less like a filmed live performance are somewhat odd, in that (as mentioned above) sets look kind of half finished and there’s a minimalistic aspect to everything that would seem to be anachronistic to a “true” film of the material. (That very minimalism also tends to chafe at the patently melodramatic and often even hyperbolic tendencies of Puccini’s source material.)

If the presentational aspects are perhaps unavoidably disjointed feeling, this production does absolutely excel in the power of its singing and the luster of its orchestral forces. Angela Gheorghiu’s Tosca is a force of nature, and while she has a tendency to almost overwhelm Puccini’s often “topographical” melodic style, she brings the requisite passion (tragic or otherwise) to the role. Ruggero Raimondi’s Scarpia is nicely duplicitous and Raimondi perhaps has the best appreciation of the three principals as to how to adapt the “playing to the second balcony” sensibility of many live stage performers to the more intimate environment of film. Robert Alagno is arguably the weakest link in the main trifecta, never really scaling the heights of amorous recklessness that are needed for Cavaradossi, though his singing is uniformly superb. (Opera trivia lovers may know that Gheorghiu and Alagna have had a long, almost Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton-esque, relationship with each other, including marriage, separation and divorce announcements. I'm frankly not sure if they're still officially married to each other.)

Puccini: Tosca 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tosca is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of ArtHaus Musik with a 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. While the 4K UHD viewing experience was relatively enjoyable, it was less of an uptick in quality than I expected. The lack of HDR means the palette is largely the same, albeit arguably better saturated in the color segments. To my eyes, the black and white material looked relatively similar, with the same (intentional, one assumes) blown out highlights that are prevalent in the standard Blu-ray presentation. The similarly intentionally "distressed" looking elements have a somewhat coarser looking grain field from the already coarse looking presentation on the standard Blu-ray. Many midrange and wide shots are fairly soft looking, with decent but never really impressively abundant detail levels. Where the 4K UHD presentation really excels in the many extreme close-ups of the principal trio, where fine detail does pop with more precision than on the Blu-ray version. It doesn't appear that a ton of restoration was done here, so there are still elements like noticeable wobble in the credits.

I've been at this reviewing game for longer than I choose to admit, and I have to say the Blu-ray disc included with this package presented some really odd technical hurdles to climb that may suggest that boutique classical music labels may want to think about various resolution and presentational aspects that may crop up for supposed "region free" releases. The first clue I had that something odd was up was when I popped the Blu-ray into one of my older PS3s. I got a thumbnail of the title, just like usual, but the disc simply would not boot — I only got a black screen (and I tried it on several older PS3s that I still own, which I further tried with a variety of display and/or monitor units just to see if anything would help, which it didn't). Interestingly, the disc booted immediately on my PC drive, though weirdly it was showing an interlaced presentation (and there were clear combing artifacts in the many black and white sequences where, for example, Antonio Pappano is conducting with some fury). Even weirder, the frame rate was showing at 25fps, which made me wonder if somehow this was a 1080/50i presentation. Popping the disc in any of my region free players made it boot immediately (and I ended up taking screenshots with my Region B PS4), and it also played fine in my Samsung 4K UHD player (where my display showed it was a progressive presentation, for what that's worth). All of this is to say that some of you may well experience similar "technical difficulties" when you try to play the standard Blu-ray, depending on what your particular setup is. In terms of video quality, many of the same aspects of the 4K UHD presentation hold true here as well. A lot of the wide shots are pretty soft looking, and things really only pop superbly when close-ups are employed.

Puccini: Tosca 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Thankfully, there are no similar technical issues with the two sterling audio presentations included on both discs in this set, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. (Some curmudgeons may have wished for an Atmos or DTS:X track on the 4K UHD disc, but what's here is really quite forceful and abundantly energetic and immersive.) From the first punchy brass moments of Tosca's opening, the surround track on both discs is beautifully resonant and impressive, offering clear delineation between lines and also presenting a nicely wide soundstage that really recreates a splendid orchestral ambience throughout the performance. The low end on the 5.1 track is often stupendously impressive, especially when Puccini's orchestration blends low brass and winds with strings. Voices are all rendered cleanly, though there are occasional balance issues that lead to Puccini's overwhelming orchestrations slightly burying solo singers. Fidelity is top notch throughout, and both tracks on both discs offer abundant clarity and problem free listening experiences.

Puccini: Tosca 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Neither the Blu-ray disc nor the 4K UHD disc included in this release sport any supplementary material.

Puccini: Tosca 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are apparently a lot of fans of this production, at least as evidenced by some of the online comments I read in preparation for this review, but I have to say Jacquot's weird "combo platter" of recording session footage and kinda sorta staged elements just didn't do it for me personally. I was repeatedly taken out of the story by this approach, something that didn't help things build to their required emotional catharsis. That said, this is one of the more forcefully sung and played Toscas I've seen, and so fans of Puccini's music may well want to check this out. The 4K UHD presentation offers a slight but to my eyes not very substantial uptick in detail levels, but the lack of HDR means no real changes in the palette are overly noticeable. As mentioned above, some consumers may encounter "technical difficulties" when attempting to watch the standard Blu-ray disc included with this release.