"If it [the coiffure conflagration] took place during Act II, Scarpia's dining room, I would assume that the dinner table candles caused the incident. There would be wine (imitation) on the dining table, so Scarpia, if combustion took place before she kills him with the fruit knife, crying 'Avanti lui tremava tutta Roma' ('before him Rome trembled'), could, in the course of their less than friendly meeting, throw the contents of the wine jug over her with credibility.
"Otherwise, down with the safety curtain, on with the fire engine."
If Tito Gobbi was involved, this would have taken place in the famous Zefirelli production. The second act featured candle light in abundance. Gobbi would have risen to the occasion like the artist he was.
ReplyDeleteThe other Tosca at Covent Garden story concerned the guardsmen detailed to capture Tosca in the last act. Tosca witnesses what she thinks is a fake fireing squad execution of her lover Cavarodossi. When she realises that Scarpia has duped her and Cavarodossi is dead, she rushes to the battlements and leaps to her death as she sees Scarpia's guards approaching. At Covent Garden these were military from the local barracks who were briefed by the stage manger just before their entrance. On one occasion, the SM told them to follow Tosca wherever she was. They all dutifully leaped over the battlements.
The erudite Mr. Garner's additions follow some Internet sleuthing that revealed the Callas flambe incident to have occurred in a 1965 production at Covent Garden. Co-star Tito Gobbi was credited with extinguishing the flaming hairdo, but it is not known if he followed Mr. Garner's recommended method.
ReplyDelete