It has been a long wait. The last time two British singers took the principal roles in Puccini’s Tosca at the Royal Opera House was in 1954. Last week, snow blanketed much of south-east England, but that didn’t stop star tenor Freddie De Tommaso reaching for his shovel in his native Kent to dig his car out, we’re told. He wasn’t going to miss making a little bit of history opposite the Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw.
Her long-awaited house debut in yet another revival of Jonathan Kent’s rock-solid production, first seen in 2006, was a huge moment in Romaniw’s career – one that has soared ever upwards since she was introduced to music as a child by her grandfather. He would take her to Swansea’s Ukrainian club to hear big voices sing the songs of his homeland. How proud he would have been to see her last week.
