`TOSCA' REVISITED : STRIKING A LIGHTER CHORD WITH L.A. OPERA STAR SOPRANO AND CSUN ALUM VANESS.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer

Who said opera divas must be zaftig in shape and deadly serious in mood?

Certainly not Carol Vaness, the California State University, Northridge-educated spinto soprano who sings the title role in the L.A. Opera's production of ``Tosca,'' opening Nov. 9 for seven performances.

Considered one of the top sopranos in the opera world, Vaness reveals a fine-tuned sense of humor when discussing her life's work. Coincidentally, her first operatic role at CSUN was Tosca, the heroine of Puccini's tragic tale of doomed love.

``As a performer, it's a role that has everything you'd ever want to do,'' Vaness said. ``You get love scenes, you get to murder someone and you get to kill yourself.''

For audiences, ``Tosca'' is a fast-paced, to-the-point affair bolstered by a dramatic score designed to keep pace with the somewhat hectic sequence of events.

``The music is spectacular and athletic,'' Vaness said. ``There's not a single down moment. Every bit is good. It's not made up of a group of big old popular songs. It's incredibly deep music. That's one of the reasons it's so popular.''

Vaness made her debut with the L.A. Opera as Fiordiligi in the 1988 production of ``Cosi Fan Tutte.'' Following the local run of ``Tosca,'' she travels to New York to portray both Tosca and Fiordiligi at the Metropolitan Opera.

And on New Year's Eve in New York, Vaness, who was born in San Diego and raised in the Inland Empire, is engaged to be married. Husband-to-be Bruce Brown is a choreographer currently working at the Houston Grand Opera.

``He's the most positive person I've ever met in my life,'' Vaness said after a daylong ``Tosca'' rehearsal. ``I said, `Should I really be known as Carol Brown? Doesn't that sound like a secretary?' Not that there's anything wrong with secretaries.''

After the wedding, Vaness has several recitals booked, including one in Glendale in late January. Then, it's back to New York for concerts and a recording date with the New York Philharmonic.

``With conductors, you can't expect to get along with everybody,'' the good-natured Vaness said. ``The most you hope for is you will have someone who is a collaborator who believes in the art of compromise. You get more out of someone by helping, and that happens 90 percent of the time. But there have been times when I've walked in and butted heads, hated them and they've hated me. But we've still done marvelous work together. You don't have to love the person in the pit.''

Vaness did her graduate work in voice studies at CSUN with David Scott, director of the university's opera program. Vaness, 44, has known Scott for 22 years and still studies with him when she can.

``Her musicality and musicianship is really at the top,'' Scott said. ``And she's smart enough to have discovered how to survive in this business. She's made a unique place for herself. Her voice is not huge, but it's on the bigger side, and that puts her in a special (spinto soprano) category.''

Along with ``Tosca,'' which she recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Vaness is associated with the role of Donna Anna in ``Don Giovanni,'' another part she first performed at CSUN. She's sung Donna Anna some 162 times.

Some years, Vaness is away from home up to eight months, ``which is basically hard on your suitcases,'' she said, adding that she and her fiance probably will settle in California.

``As much as I would like to be settled, I can't imagine it,'' she said. ``I can't imagine how one can settle down in this business. You get an offer from San Francisco and the next opera you do is in Paris.''

Vaness, who has two younger sisters, is a firm believer in daily exercise and careful eating. In 1992, the year before she opened in San Francisco's new production of ``I Vespri Siciliani,'' she lost 55 pounds and has since managed to keep it off.

``Opera singers don't have to be huge,'' she said. ``That's a myth. But you do have to be careful. You don't want to be skinny by not eating.''

On performance days, Vaness spends most of her time resting. At 4 p.m., she eats a meal of pasta and zucchini with plenty of water. She carries a bottle of Gatorade and a vitamin B complex to the theater in case she gets tired.

``You only do a few vocal exercises because by the time of the performance, your voice is pretty well oiled,'' Vaness explained. ``Then, they come and put on your wig and makeup. You warm up by doing some breathing exercises and some stretches. Then, you sit and worry.''

Vaness attends movies and spends time reading on her days off. She recently finished the Stephen King best sellers ``Desperation'' and ``The Regulators.''

Perhaps not surprisingly, Vaness rarely listens to opera at home, instead preferring '50s pop, the keyboard impressions of George Winston and song stylist Harry Connick Jr.

She understands that classical music probably never will attract huge audiences in the United States, partly because school arts programs frequently are endangered.

``Will opera ever command the same audience as `Chicago Hope'?'' she said. ``Probably not. Our tradition is not as old as the European tradition. But things like the Three Tenors make opera accessible to lots of people. I've had cab drivers listening to their tape of the Three Tenors because they like the music.

``I also feel very strongly about arts programs being removed from the schools. It's the most disgusting thing they could have done. To do away with the very studies that draw the humanity out of a kid ... there isn't one person that hasn't benefited from even a weekly arts class. It just makes me sick.''

Vaness suggests newcomers to ``Tosca'' prepare before attending the production by reading the libretto and listening to a recording of the piece.

``It's an ideal first opera because even if you don't understand a word, you'll know what's going on by the action,'' she said. ``It's so evident. There's really no mystery to what's happening.''

THE FACTS

What: L.A. Opera's ``Tosca.''

Background: Carol Vaness portrays the title role in Giacomo Puccini's famous tragic opera, based on the 1887 Victorien Sardou play. Also featuring California native Richard Leech as Cavaradossi and Justino Diaz as Baron Scarpia. Andrew Litton, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, conducts, with Christopher Harlan directing.

Where: Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 1 p.m. Nov. 9; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12, 15, 17, 20, 23 and 26.

Tickets: $23 to $130.

Information: [phone].

Murder, intrigue and sex (oh, my!)

A fugitive's trail leads Rome police chief Baron Scarpia to the church where painter and revolutionary Mario Cavaradossi is helping an escaped political prisoner. Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi, then invites the painter's lover, Tosca, to his apartment under the pretext of telling her news of him.

But in the next room, Cavaradossi is being tortured and, to save him, Tosca agrees to submit to the lustful Baron. After he orders a supposedly mock execution and signs a safe passage for the lovers, the police chief turns his attention to Tosca, who stabs him to death. She tells Cavaradossi to play dead when the executioners fire because she believes the bullets will be blanks.

But the execution is painfully real. And when the soldiers come to arrest her, Tosca leaps over the ramparts to her death.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) With a song from her heart

Soprano Carol Vaness breathes life into Tosca, Puccini's tragic heroine

(2) ``As a performer, it's a role that has everything you'd ever want to do,'' says Carol Vaness, rehearsing ``Tosca'' with Justino Diaz, center, and director Christopher Harlan.

(3) ``Opera singers don't have to be huge,'' she says. ``That's a myth. But you do have to be careful.''

Phil McCarten/Daily News

Box: Murder, intrigue and sex (oh, my!) (See Text)