Ukrainian protest against Russian soprano Anna Netrebko adds tension to Tosca premiere

After more than a dozen revivals of Jonathan Kent's brilliant 2006 production of Tosca, the Royal Opera has replaced it by a new and very different version by its Director of Opera Oliver Mears. Instead of a stunning and pristine set depicting the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome, we now see the wreckage of the bombed church. That's fair enough: the opera takes place during Napoleon's conquest of Italy, even referring directly to the battle of Marengo, which was fought in 1800, but seeing police chief Scarpia later watching television is a glaring anachronism. This is deliberate of course, and heightens the tension of the opera by relating the action to present times without altering the story. Normally, I would thoroughly disapprove of such an unnecessary search for relevance, but in this case it works, thanks to total commitment by the brilliantly selected cast and to a piece of politics that could not have been foreseen.

As the audience approached the Covent Garden Opera House, we were rather unsettled by a demonstration by Ukrainians and their supporters against the casting of Russian soprano Anna Netrebko in the title role. The Royal Opera House, they said, should not employ a supporter of Vladimir Putin. Netrebko, they said, had not sufficiently condemned the invasion. Oliver Mears has responded by pointing out that Netrebko has made clear her opposition to the war and has not appeared in Russia since the invasion. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the argument, the demonstration heightened everyone's awareness of the effects of war on art which is, after all, what Tosca is all about.

Netrebko herself may have been disturbed by this at the start but soon settled down into a wonderful performance. Now 53, her high notes are as scintillating as ever and her lower register has become even more impressive with time. Also her breath control is phenomenal, enabling her to hold the long notes even longer than usual. We have not seen her at the Royal Opera for six years and she demonstrated to huge effect what we have been missing.

The British-Italian tenor Freddie de Tomasso was excellent as Tosca's lover Cavaradossi. He has a huge voice, which was essential to match Netrebko in their duets, though he sometimes allowed the perceived need for volume to overrule subtlety in his performance.

Perhaps the best performance of all, however, came from Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley as Scarpia. Finley's combination of a fine voice and great acting ability enable him to bring extra malice to the role. Combining insatiable lust, the corruption of power and the evil ambition of a James Bond villain, Finley's Scarpia was shiveringly perfect.

Even the casting of the minor roles was very well thought out with the young British bass-baritone Ossian Huskinson making a fine impression as escaped prisoner Angelotti and Italian baritone Alessandro Corbelli making a delightful contribution as the church sacristan. Now in his 70s, Corbelli has long been a favourite in comic operas and utilised this experience in bringing a highly appreciated light touch to this role.

In any opera by Puccini, however, the music itself is the outstanding feature and on this occasion the Covent Garden Orchestra gave a fine performance combining power and finesse, as conducted by the Royal Opera's new Music Director Jakub Hrša. As a Czech himself, his presence also gave implicit support to Netrebko in view of the protests.