La Cieca is just guessing here (with some prompting from Zachary Woolfe) but she thinks she has divined the coup de théâtre climaxing the Met’s new production of Tosca.

They shoot Mario, etc. etc., and then Karita Mattila runs crazily off the stage as the guards come rushing on. They search all about but cannot find her: it’s as if Tosca has disappeared from the face of the earth.

Seachlights sweep the stage and then the auditorium.

“Ah! Tosca, pagherai ben cara la sua vita!” cries Spoletta, and suddenly the spotlight focuses on a Dress Circle box, house right. The Finnish diva sings the famous final line and the even more famous high B-flat, and hurls herself into space…

… only to land squarely on the “incognito” Franco Zeffirelli, who has chosen just this moment to exit in disgust up the orchestra aisle. Their unison “oof” is drowned out by the roars of the applauding crowd.

It’s so meta La Cieca can hardly see straight.

Comments