The Metropolitan Opera’s gala opening night production of “Tosca” made the news when the audience loudly booed the production staff. The publicity won’t hurt. Many will say it’s the traditionalists who were upset at the grim staging and liberties taken by director Luc Bondy. But The New Yorker‘s Alex Ross, certainly not one to walk the traditional line, holds nothing back in his severely critical review of the performance that moved some to boo. He opens with “It takes a certain effort to suck the life out of ‘Tosca.'” and proceeds downhill from there. And unlike other critics and the audience, he also pulls no punches with the singers, who had otherwise escaped the booing.