The unimpeachable Tim Smith might have discovered a real Tosca -- basically a big precious gold nugget in the current dry patch of new exciting Toscas and Leonoras (awesome Takesha Meshé Kizart the exception to the rule):
"You just never know where or when you're going to have an ear-opening experience. I got a welcome jolt Friday night the moment Mary Elizabeth Williams strode onstage in the Virginia Opera production of Puccini's Tosca at George Mason University's Center for the Arts.
There was something in the vibrancy and warmth of the sound, something in the vitality of the phrasing, that immediately hit home. The company is hailing Williams as "a major discovery," and you won't get an argument from me. Sure, one performance is not enough to build an air-tight case for any singer's worth or potential, but I'd be surprised if we don't start hearing more about this unusually promising soprano".