Word: scarpia
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...newly recorded Callas has a nearly unbeatable rival-the Callas of twelve years ago. Since then her voice and even, occasionally, her characterization have hardened, and though the drama may at times be heightened, cerebral firepower is no substitute for vocal beauty. Baritone Tito Gobbi is again a superb Scarpia...
Tosca is a jealous lover, and Callas played the part with pantherish intensity, purring innocently one moment, spitting hellfire the next. In the second-act encounter with the lecherous police chief Scarpia, splendidly portrayed by Baritone Tito Gobbi, Callas was at her supercharged best. When the soldiers carried off her Mario, they nearly buckled under her pummeling. She lurched desperately about the stage fending off Scarpia's advances, then in a violent flash drove a knife into his heart. Callas and Gobbi treated the Met to one of the best-acted performances it has seen in many a year...
Puccini: Tosca (RCA Victor). With Leontyne Price, Giuseppe di Stefano and Giuseppe Taddei, Conductor Herbert von Karajan has the finest Tosca cast that can be assembled today. Price surpasses Callas as the reigning Tosca, and Di Stefano and Taddei match their best past performances as Cavaradossi and Scarpia...
Booming Voice. In a career that spanned more than a quarter-century, Tibbett ranged through more than 70 roles. He was never a leading Wagnerian, instead concentrated on the great baritone roles of the Italian repertory: lago in Otello, the elder Germont in Traviata, Scarpia in Tosca, Amonasro in A'ida. For Tibbett the Met scheduled rarely performed operas such as Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, and it was Tibbett, a longtime champion of English-language opera, who created the baritone roles in such contemporary American operas as Deems Taylor's The King's Henchman and Peter...