That's one of my favorite lines from opera. Rarely in any drama does the heroine have the opportunity, as in *Tosca*, to plunge a knife into the thorax of her would-be ravisher, while delivering herself of a line so drenched in derision mixed with vengeance. So, last night (March 18, 2000) I attended a performance of *Tosca* by the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center. It was conducted by Heinz Fricke, the Opera's music director. Susan Patterson sang Tosca. Marcus Haddock, Mario. Sergei Leiferkus, Scarpia.. (Janos, or anyone else, what was Scarpia's first name again according to the Sardou text?) Stephen Morscheck sang Angelotti. For me, this is an opera that has everything an opera is supposed to have: love, jealousy, intrigue, oppression, rebellion, liberation, torture, blackmail, attempted rape, cathartic vengeance, betrayal beyond the grave, and suicide. All to consistently fine music, punctuated with memorable arias and duets. The program notes stated that this "production of *Tosca* commemorates the 100th anniversary of the work's premiere in Rome. As a historical footnote, the projections shown on the scrim at the beginning of each act depict the original 1900 set designs." They were interesting to see as the actual sets were quite different. The painting Mario is working on in the opening act was here a colored three dimensional statue. While Philip Kennicott, in the Washington Post suggested that "the statue...[might be] meant to call our attention to Puccini's veristic leanings, by making the usual operatic story into something three dimensional, fleshing out a lifeless form into something more tangible, I wasn't buying into it. The substitution, while not spoiling the production, seemed unnecessary. Another change, also alluded to by Kennicott, is the immediate aftermath of Scarpia's death. Traditionally, after gloating over her triumph, Tosca, safe-conduct for herself and Cavaradossi in hand, leaves the room and then a scruple detains her as she returns, places candles on either side of his head, removes a crucifix from the wall and places it on his chest, all consistent w/ her exclamation "E morto! Or gli perdono!" In this production, there is no show of remorse on Tosca's part and Scarpia, not quite as dead as we might have thought, drags himself to across the stage to the religious statue to which he stretches out his arm in what may be a last plea for redemption. Mario was fine, but Tosca's real counterpart in this performance (maybe in all; I don't think I've been to another performance of Tosca) was Scarpia, the police chief, played by Leiferkus. At the final curtain call, he evoked the first standing ovation and a bouquet, which he seemed to receive w/ surprise. Attending this performance one week after *Otello*, a comparison w/ Iago suggested itself. Like Iago, Scarpia has an aria in which he describes his "credo" close to the beginning of the second act. Quite different, they are equally detestable. I sort of compare Iago to Goebbels and Scarpia to Goering, not that it matters. *Tosca* is a tightly written work; almost everything in it advances the plot, while, according to "The Washington Opera" magazine, the Sardou play on which it's based is not. But the few interludes where the plot momentarily stands still, actually the main arias, are welcome opportunities for us to catch our breath and Tosca's "Vissi d'arte" upon being confronted w/ Scarpia's scoundrelous proposition drew a merited round of applause. There are brief passages of dialogue that isn't sung, and Tosca's snarling "Quanto?" when she realizes that Cavaradossi's release, if it can be obtained at all, can only be bought, simply oozed contempt. The love duets in the third act and Tosca's heartbreak at the discovery that it was only the sham nature of Cavaradossi's execution that was a sham, were beautifully presented and there was no trampoline to ruin Tosca's suicide as she jumped off the walls of Castel Sant' Angelo. This concludes my subscription to the Washington Opera for this season, although next Sunday, I shall be joining the Wagner Society on an expedition by chartered bus to Baltimore to attend their opera's production of *Tannhaeuser*. Next year's Washington Opera season will consist of: *Don Quichotte*, *Parsifal*, *Il Trovatore*, *Turandot*, *Don Carlo*, *Le Nozze di Figaro*, *The Consul*, and *Il Barbiere di Siviglia*. Walter Meyer