Puccini's "Tosca," with its lush, arching melodies and gripping drama, has remained an audience favorite through more than 60 performances at Cincinnati Opera. But, likely in few of them have the stars aligned as they did Thursday night in Music Hall.

The season opener brought together American soprano Aprile Millo as the tragic heroine Floria Tosca and a stunning new Italian tenor named Antonello Palombi as her lover, Mario Cavaradossi. Combined with the sumptuous scenic design by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, choral pageantry and exquisite conducting in the pit from Giordano Bellincampi, it was simply a great night at the opera.

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With her vibrato-rich, full-bodied sound and legato phrasing, her singing is more in the vein of opera legend Renata Tebaldi than Tosca icon Maria Callas. She was slow to warm up in Act I, where her stand-and-sing delivery was usually upstaged by the tenor. But her great Act II scene with the evil Roman police chief Scarpia (Mark Delavan) was a triumph of singing. Kneeling for her prayerful “Vissi d’arte,” Millo wrung the emotion out of every note with creamy, radiant sound, and Scarpia’s ritualistic murder scene was dramatically riveting..........
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>........As Cavaradossi, the romantic painter-revolutionary who meets his fate at the hands of Baron Scarpia, Palombi was the complete package. His voice soared with Italianate color and he moved around the stage with believable passion.

One of the most charming moments was the Act I aria "Recondita armonia," discussing the blonde beauty in his painting. The tenor's other great scene, the Act III "E lucevan le stelle," was an anguished goodbye to Tosca that unfolded as one great sob.

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>......Supporting the singers seamlessly in the pit, Bellincampi, in his American opera debut, led a score that was alternately transparent and full-blooded. The Act III prelude evoking the breaking dawn was a glimmering canvas, as the little shepherd boy (Charles Hiser of Springdale) sang his song. The orchestra responded with wonderfully refined playing all night, including glowing contributions from the horns.

The spectacle of throngs filling the church to bells and cannon fire for the Te Deum was another spellbinding moment, well sung by the chorus, with considerable charm added by red-robed members of the Cincinnati Boychoir. Staging, by Marc Verzatt, was consistently compelling, with crowds scenes managed well. The crowd in the hall, 2,602, went home happy.

Tosca repeats at 8 p.m. today and next Friday in Music Hall. Tickets: 513-241-2742; www.cincinnatiopera.org

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com