Her Tosca was elegant and theatrical, and fortunately, blindly in love with each of her Cavaradossi. Hui's dark and creamy lower range complimented Tosca's coercive and jealous streak while her lucent trills and crisp high notes that of the popular singer's confidence. The delectable fullness and strength of Hui's soprano rang clear, only diminished by an early tussle with the orchestra.
Castiglione's lighting charged the drama thoughtfully but sudden and inexplicable extreme lighting shifts snapped one's attention from the performances. Sonia Cammarata's refined costumes shimmered but lacked the worn realism of French-occupied 1800 Rome. Vivid colours, evocative architectural elements and ornate detailing formed a powerful backdrop. The diversion stunted a beautiful but otherwise conventional staging by director, set and lighting designer Enrico Castiglione's production which harks from the Taormina Opera Festival. Sadly, Puccini's enduring work came awfully close to being served up as a dog's breakfast. It was to be an opening and closing night highlight. If that wasn't enough, even more surprisingly, Cavaradossi's notable Act III aria, "E lucevan le stelle" turned into a dawning ground-hog day of chuckles as each of the tenors took their turn in stamping their mark before the trio came together to belt out the last lightning phrase. No, alongside internationally acclaimed soprano He Hui as Tosca, Opera Hong Kong matched each of the opera's three acts with a Cavaradossi taken on by China's Three Tenors: Wei Song, Dai Yuqiang and Artistic Director and producer, Warren Mok. Opera Hong Kong presented a novel way of spicing up an old favourite in their recent production of Puccini's Tosca. It wasn't enough to rely on a strong cast of singers and a technically polished orchestra to propel the tragedy of Floria Tosca's eventual suicidal leap from Rome's Castel Sant'Angelo. Wie Song, Warren Mok and Dai Yuqiang as the three Cavaradossi
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