Tosca Vienna 1980 Rysanek, Aragall, Taddei, Stein

This Vienna Tosca from 13 June 1980 must have been a night to remember, with Leonie Rysanek and Jaime Aragall both very much on song, and Giuseppe Taddei’s chilling and thrilling Scarpia. Increasingly nowadays one reads of Rysanek “You had to see her”, but on nights like this she could paint a sound portrait more vivid than many a Tosca in the flesh. Act 2 photos include Leonie Rysanek rehearsing with Otakar Krauss for performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in April 1959 and Rysanek with Flaviano Labo and Robert Merrill at the Met (all looking remarkably unfazed by their predicament!)