New version of 'Tosca' booed at the Met

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The director of an avant-garde production of Puccini's audience favorite "Tosca" was met with boos after its premiere at New York's Metropolitan Opera House.

The New York Times said Swiss-born director Luc Bondy's take on the opera featured stark sets and more eroticism between the lovers than more traditional productions of "Tosca." The title character also failed to put candles by the body of the villain Scarpia after killing him, and didn't leap to her death at the end as expected.

Although the audience jeered at Bondy and the production team when they appeared on stage for curtain calls, the crowd applauded conductor James Levine and cast members Karita Mattila and Marcelo Alvarez, the Times said.